Count Screens Occasionally With South American: The term “Southern America” is commonly abbreviated. For more information about the region, go to the Southern United States. The botanical continent is described in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions in Southern America (WGSRPD). The Southern Hemisphere is home to the vast majority of South America!
The Pacific Ocean to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east separate North America and the Caribbean Sea from South America. Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay are among the continent’s twelve sovereign states, along with two dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands[note 6]. As a result, Ascension Island, Bouvet Island (a Norwegian dependency), Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, may be included in the South American continent.
South America occupies the southernmost region of the Americas. The Darién watershed, which runs along the Colombia–Panama border, is widely regarded as the continent’s northwest frontier, however, some argue that the Panama Canal is the true border. Panama as a whole, including the region of the isthmus east of the Panama Canal, is usually regarded as a part of North America, according to geopolitics[8] and geography. Nearly all of mainland South America is covered by the South American Plate.
Whereas the Western Hemisphere is home to the continent’s other half. The continent’s “southern subregion” refers to the continent’s southernmost part (see the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas). As a result of geopolitical events, South America is increasingly being used as a cultural or geographic reference point rather than Latin America or the Southern Cone (in particular, the rise of Brazil).
Geography
South America covers 17,840,000 square kilometres (6,890,000 sq mi). In 2018, the country has a population of over 423 million people. South America is the fourth-largest continent in terms of land area and the fifth-most populous country in terms of people (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America). Brazil is home to more than half of South America’s population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, and Peru in terms of population size. Brazil’s GDP now accounts for more than half of the world GDP, making it the continent’s first regional power.
The interior of North America is home to less than one in ten people, and the far southernmost parts are at risk of overpopulation. The Andes Mountains in Western South America contrast sharply with the vast plains of Eastern South America, where rivers like the Amazon and Orinoco flow. The Southern Cone has extensive swathes of land in medium latitudes, yet the continent is tropical for the most part. Native Americans, European conquerors and immigrants, and, closer to home, African slaves all contributed to the development of Africa’s cultural and ethnic identity. The vast majority of South Americans speak Spanish or Portuguese as a result of colonialism, and their communities and states are profoundly affected by Western ideas.
In comparison to Europe, Asia, and Africa, South America was a comparatively peaceful continent in the twentieth century. Angel Falls in Venezuela, the world’s tallest continuous waterfall, and Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, the world’s largest single-drop waterfall, are both in South America. By volume, the Amazon River is the world’s largest river. Aconcagua, the world’s highest mountain at 6,962 meters, is found in the Andes, the world’s longest mountain range (22,841 feet). The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar location on the planet.
The wettest place on Earth is López de Micay in Colombia, while the Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest rainforest. Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, is the world’s highest capital city, and Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest commercially navigable lake. Outside of the research stations in Antarctica, Puerto Toro, Chile, is the southernmost permanently inhabited community.
Economic Views
South America is rich in metallic ores such as gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. The resources present in South America have provided enormous affluence to its governments in times of conflict or rapid economic expansion in industrialized countries elsewhere. The reliance on a single export product, on the other hand, has often impeded the development of a more diverse economy. The economy of South America has always changed a lot due to changes in commodities pricing on the international market.
The physiography of South America includes some of the neighboring islands. The ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao), the Trinidad and Tobago islands (Trinidad Island and Tobago Island, among others), the State of Nueva Esparta, and the Venezuelan Federal Dependencies are all located on the northern half of the South American continental shelf. The Caribbean island countries and territories have been grouped together as a separate region, rather than being classified as a subregion of North America. The archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia (San Andrés and Providencia islands, respectively) and the archipelago of San Andrés and Santa Catalina (San Andrés and Santa Catalina islands, respectively) are two islands in the Caribbean that are part of South America but are actually located in North America (Santa Catalina and Providencia islands respectively).
Other South American islands that are frequently mentioned in travel guides include the Chiloé Archipelago and Robinson Crusoe Island (both administered by Chile), Easter Island (culturally a part of Oceania, also administered by Chile), the Galápagos Islands (administered by Ecuador, sometimes considered Oceanian), and Tierra del Fuego (administrated by Argentina). [21] a (split between Argentina and Chile). In the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil administers Fernando de Noronha, Trindade, and Martim Vaz, as well as Saint Peter and St. Paul Archipelago, whereas the Crown administers the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (biographically and hydrologically associated with Antarctica)[25], whose sovereignty over the islands is disputed by Argentina.
Sea currents like the Humboldt and Falkland Islands play a big impact in shaping climates. When the South Atlantic equatorial current reaches the United States’ northeastern shore, it breaks into two currents: the Brazilian current, which flows north, and a coastal current, which flows northwest toward the Antilles, generating the Gulf Stream.
Today’s concerns
Since the 1990s, anti-imperialism sentiment has dominated South American politics. Nationalizing industries and thereby giving the government control over entire economic sectors has been a hot political topic in the region. In various South American countries, the electricity sector has been nationalized.
There is a lot of genetic mixing in South America. Argentina’s genetic makeup is composed of 65 to 79 percent Europeans, 17 to 31 percent Amerindians, and 2 to 4% Sub-Saharan Africans. Colombians with Sub-Saharan African heritage make up 1% to 89 percent of the population, whereas those with European ancestry make up 20% to 79 percent of the population, depending on where you live. In Peru, European ancestry made up 1 percent to 3 percent of the population, whereas African ancestry made up only 1 percent to 3 percent.
According to the Genographic Project, 28 percent of Peruvians are European, 68 percent are Native Americans, 2 percent are Asian, and 2 percent come from Sub-Saharan Africa. This has frequently resulted in significant political unrest. As a result, efforts are being made to diversify output in order to prevent becoming overly reliant on a single huge export. Brazil is the continent’s most populous and largest country, occupying almost half of the continent’s surface area and housing roughly half of the continent’s population. The Andean republics, Caribbean South America, the Guianas, and the Southern Cone are the four subregions.
