South America is known for beautiful beaches, diverse rainforests and many different traditions. In these summaries we explain everything you need to know about the continent. We go into the vegetation and the climate, the population, the languages and the history.
South America information
South America is part of the Americas and the fourth largest continent in the world. The area of the continent is around 18 million square kilometers, making it larger than Antarctica and smaller than North America. South America occupies 12% of the world’s land area.
South Africa is the land mass from the southern tip of Argentina to Panama. The continent is connected to North America by a narrow piece of land.
The terms South America and Latin America are not to be confused!
Latin America is the countries of South America and the Spanish-speaking countries of North America. These are, for example, Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The term Latin America is therefore not a geographical designation, but a political and cultural classification. A lot of important economic data is mostly calculated for Latin America and not for South America.
About 428 million people live in South America and the population density is 23.4 inhabitants per square kilometer.
The continent is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. North of the continent is the Caribbean.
The largest country in South America is Brazil and the longest mountain range is the Andes with 7,000 km. Probably the best known and also the most water-rich river is the Amazon, which crosses a large part of the continent.
In South America, Spanish or Portuguese is mainly spoken, which is due to historical circumstances. Most people belong to the Catholic faith.
If you would like to learn more about the language, the population or the economy and history of South America, you will find your own summaries on these topics on .
South America countries
The South American continent consists of 13 countries, with the larger part of the population spread over the coastal regions. In contrast, relatively few people live in the interior of the continent.
The countries of South America are:
- Argentina,
- Bolivia,
- Brazil,
- Chile,
- ecuador,
- Guyana,
- Colombia,
- Paraguay,
- Peru,
- suriname,
- Uruguay,
- Venezuela.
Figure 1: South American countriesSource: die-erde.com
As already mentioned, Brazil is the largest country in South America and also the fifth largest country in the world in terms of area and population.
The smallest country in South America is Suriname. It is in the very north of the country, between Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil, and is only half the size of Germany.
Chile is the richest country with a per capita income of US$24,500 per capita. That is about a third of the average per capita income in Germany.
Bolivia is the poorest country on the continent. People there are struggling with high unemployment, poverty and poor access to education and health care.
South America – Geopolitical Regions
The states in South America can be further subdivided geopolitically. A distinction is made between the following regions:
- the Andean countries,
- states of the amazon basin,
- La Plata States,
- Cono Sur,
- Caribbean countries.
Andean countries
The Andean countries include the states of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile. The term «Andean countries» is used for this cultural area due to the common history of the Inca Empire as well as linguistic, cultural and ethnic similarities.
In the Andean countries they use Quechua, a group of closely related language varieties. In addition, in these states, for example, the adobe architectural style is particularly widespread.
Amazon Basin States
The states of the Amazon basin are also often referred to as Amazonia and the Amazon lowlands and include regions from the countries of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia.
This region covers almost the entire northern half of South America. Because Brazil is so large, the state is also often seen as a separate entity.
La Plata States
The two countries Argentina and Uruguay belong to the La Plata states. The states are grouped together in this region because they are both located directly on the Río de la Plata.
The Río de la Plata is an estuary where the Paraná and Uruguay rivers flow into the Atlantic.
Figure 2: Río de la PlataSource: de-Academic.com
Cono Sur
Cono Sur is also referred to as the southern cone in English and alludes to the triangular-shaped southern part of the continent. These include Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Broader definitions often include parts of Brazil and Paraguay.
Figure 3: Cono SurSource: Wikipedia.org
Caribbean countries
Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are among the Caribbean countries. The reason for this lies in the common colonial history of the states and the fact that they maintain lively economic and traffic relations with the islands of the Caribbean.
Caribbean Islands
Trinidad and Tobago belong to the Caribbean islands and are therefore mostly counted to Central America. However, the island of Trinidad is under the direct influence of neighboring Venezuela and is located on a continental shelf in South America.
Leeward Islands
The islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao belong, among others, to the archipelago «Leeward Islands» or Lesser Antilles. They are often referred to as the ABC Islands because of their initials and are located on the South American continental shelf, which is why they belong to South America according to the geological definition. The Lesser Antilles are also often counted as part of Central America.
South America – Geography
Almost the entire part of the continent lies south of the equator. Only a small part in the north lies north of the equator. The southernmost tip of South America, which is called Tierra del Fuego, reaches very close to Antarctica.
The extent of the continent is very large, which is why the continent includes many different climate and vegetation zones.
Figure 4: Satellite image of South AmericaSource: klexiko.de
On the satellite image inserted above you can see that there is snow in the Andes to the west and that in the north most of the area is covered by green rainforest.
South America – climate
The climate of South America is very different and the temperature range is considerable.
Most of the continent shares the tropical climate zone. This means that temperatures are high almost all year round.
The climate is strongly influenced by the Andes, among other things.
In Peru or in the northern part of Chile, for example, they prevent humid air from the Amazon from penetrating into the areas. As a result, the climate there is drier.
The Andes are the longest mountain range on earth above sea level.
Figure 5: Map of the AndesSource: die-Anden.de
The climate is so dry that the Atacama Desert was able to develop in Chile – the driest desert region in the world. In this region it can happen that there is no rainfall for years.
Since most regions of Central and South America are part of the equatorial latitudes, there is no appreciable temperature variation between summer and winter time over most of the continent.
An exception to this are countries like Argentina or Brazil, which are parts of Patagonia.
Rainfall is particularly high at the equator but decreases north or south. In the south of the country, the climate is even sub-polar.
Ultimately, the South American weather is also determined by the surrounding oceans and the amount of water in them. They ensure that the temperatures in the southern hemisphere are milder and the winds are less severe.
South America – Patagonia
Patagonia is a part of South America that stretches across the southern tip of the continent.
The Patagonia region is divided into two major landscapes by the Andes:
- western patagonia,
- Eastern Patagonia.
Most of the landscape of western Patagonia belongs to Chile, while eastern Patagonia is mostly in Argentina. The subdivision of the region by the mountains results in large climatic differences.
The part of Patagonia that lies in Chile is heavily influenced by the Pacific air masses, which are significantly wetter than the climate in Argentina.
The air masses that could transport precipitation into the country do not reach eastern Patagonia through the Andes. As a result, the climate in the Argentine part of the region is much drier and there is less rainfall. In addition, the winds are stronger there and appear more pronounced.
Figure 6: Map of Patagonia Source: best-travel-time.org
South America – vegetation
Due to the occurrence of many climatic zones, the vegetation of the continent is very diverse. As already briefly mentioned, the Andes and the Atacama Desert are of great importance for the vegetation of South America.
Different forms of vegetation are, for example, savannas, tropics, light dry forests or wide bush land.
The Andes
The Andes are approximately 7,500 kilometers long and run along the Pacific coast from Venezuela to Patagonia. The vegetation can best be examined using the classification according to altitude levels. The classification according to Alexander von Humboldt and Aime Bonpland distinguishes five levels.
- At the first and lowest level, the Tierra Caliente, one finds the tropical lowland rainforest.
- On the second tier is the Tierra Templada. The vegetation is characterized by the tropical mountain rainforest.
- The third level is called Tierra Fria, on which tropical cloud and cloud forest grows.
- On the fourth tier, the Tierra Helada, is vegetation called Paramo. This form of vegetation is characterized by treeless, alpine highland steppes of humid tropical equatorial mountains.
- The fifth and final level is called Tierra Nevada. It is at 4800 meters and that is where the snow line is.
Most of the volcanoes in South America are also located in the Andes. Their number is so great that the magma of volcanoes is called «andensite». The collision of the Pacific and South American tectonic plates created the Andes with their several hundred volcanoes.
Atacama Desert
Located in northern Chile and southern Peru, the Atacama Desert stretches 1,200 kilometers along the Pacific Ocean. Since the average climate is hyperarid and dry, the vegetation is adapted accordingly and is rather poor.
In concrete terms, this means that there is more diverse vegetation only in the oases supplied with groundwater. There is also vegetation along the rivers from the Andes. Apart from the so-called Loma vegetation, there are few other plants in the interior of the desert.
Loma are plants that grow once a year and only cover their water requirements with a fine drizzle.
South America—Flora
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