South America is the southern continent A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia of the Americas The Americas, or America, are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area,^[1] situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian , the other half being the eastern hemisphere. It is also used to specifically refer to the Americas (or the New World) and adjacent waters, while excluding other territories that lie and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator—the word hemisphere (from the greek word σφαιρα +ημι(half)) literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator. Earth's northern hemisphere contains most of its land area and most of its human population. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name; North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the and the Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the tropics of the Western hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the American landmass, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest. More specifically, it washes upon the South American countries of Venezuela and Colombia on the lie to the northwest.

South America was named in 1507 by cartographers Martin Waldseemüller Martin Waldseemüller was a German cartographer. He and Matthias Ringmann are credited with the first recorded usage of the word America, on the 1507 map Universalis Cosmographia in honor of the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci and Matthias Ringmann Matthias Ringmann was a German cartographer and humanist poet. He is credited with naming America on the map of his friend Martin Waldseemüller after Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, navigator and cartographer. The continent of America derives its name from the feminized Latin version of his first name (For rival claims, see Naming of America page)., who was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies The Indies is a term used, in a wider sense, to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present Indian Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and Indonesia. In a more restricted sense, the Indies is used, but a New World The New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australasia.[citation needed] When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa . The term "New unknown to Europeans.

South America has an area Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron. Area is an important invariant in the differential of 17,840,000 square kilometers Square kilometre , symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km2 is equal to: (6,890,000 sq mi), or almost 3.5% of the Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World, Blue Planet,[note 3] and Terra.[note 4]'s surface. As of 2005, its population In biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything. Demography is used extensively in marketing, which relates to was estimated at more than 371,090,000. South America ranks fourth A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia in area (after Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it accounts for 60% of the world's current human population. It is located chiefly in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the World's human population, and North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast. Europe is washed upon to the north by the Arctic Ocean and, and North America).

History

Agriculture and animal domestication

South America is thought to have been first inhabited by people crossing the Bering Land Bridge The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. It was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light due to the southwesterly winds from the Pacific Ocean having lost their moisture over the from Asia, which is now the Bering Strait The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point (169°43' W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point (168°05' W) of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65° 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle. It is one of the biggest of its. Some archaeological finds do not fit this theory and have led to an alternative theory of Pre-Siberian American Aborigines The name American Aborigines has been proposed by some archaeologists and anthropologists[who?] for hypothetical peoples who lived in the Americas prior to the arrival of the ancestors of the Paleo-Indians. The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America dates back to circa 6500 BC, when potatoes The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize, chillies and beans Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed began to be cultivated for food in the highlands of the Amazon Basin The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The basin is located mainly in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries. The South American rain forest of the Amazon is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 with dense tropical forest. For centuries, this has. Pottery evidence further suggests that manioc Cassava or manioc is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America and the Caribbean that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates, which remains a staple food today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BC.^[2]

By 2000 BC many agrarian village communities had been settled throughout the Andes and the surrounding religious regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast which helped to establish fish as a primary source of food. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of an agrarian society.^[2]

South American cultures began domesticating llamas The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes mountains. In South America llamas are still used as beasts of burden, as well as for the production of fiber and meat, vicuñas, guanacos The guanaco is a camelid animal native to South America that stands between 107 and 122 centimeters (3.5 and 4 feet) at the shoulder and weighs about 90 kg (200 lb). The colour varies very little, ranging from a light brown to dark cinnamon and shading to white underneath. Guanacos have grey faces and small straight ears. They are extremely, and alpacas The Alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in superficial appearance in the highlands of the Andes circa 3500 BC. Besides their use as sources of meat and wool, these animals were used for transportation of goods.^[2]

Pre-Columbian civilizations

The rise of agriculture and the subsequent appearance of permanent human settlements allowed for the multiple and overlapping beginnings of civilizations in South America.

The earliest known settlements, and culture in South America and the Americas altogether, are the Valdivia The Valdivia Culture is one of the oldest settled cultures recorded in the Americas. It emerged from the earlier Las Vegas culture and thrived on the Santa Elena peninsula near the modern-day town of Valdivia, Ecuador between 3500 BC and 1800 BC on the Southeast coast of Ecuador.

The earliest known South American civilization was at Norte Chico The Norte Chico civilization was a complex Pre-Columbian society that included as many as 30 major population centers in what is now the Norte Chico region of north-central coastal Peru. It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas, having flourished between the 30th century BC and the 18th century BC. The alternative name, Caral-Supe, is, on the central Peruvian Peru , officially the Republic of Peru (Spanish: República del Perú, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðel peˈɾu] ( listen)), is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean coast. Though a pre-ceramic culture, the monumental architecture of Norte Chico is contemporaneous with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern state of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next three millennia. Its history. The Chavín The Chavín were a civilization that developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. The Chavin were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge. This area is 3150 meters above sea level and encompasses the quechua, jalca, and puna life zones established a trade network and developed agriculture by 900 BC, according to some estimates and archaeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín de Huantar Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site containing ruins and artifacts originally constructed by the Chavín, a pre-Inca culture, around 900 BC. The site is located 250 kilometers north of Lima, Peru at an elevation of 3,150 meters (10,300 ft), east of the Cordillera Blanca at the start of the Conchucos Valley. Chavín de Huántar has been in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned 900 BC to 300 BC.

The Muisca Muisca refers to a nation of the Chibchan Culture that formed the Muisca Confederation encountered by the Spanish in 1537, at the time of the conquest of what is now part of central Colombia. The Muisca comprised two confederations: the Hunza, whose sovereign was the Zaque, and the Bacatá, whose sovereign was the Zipa. Both confederations were were the main indigenous civilization in what is now modern Colombia. They established a confederation of many clans, or cacicazgos, that had a free trade network among themselves. They were goldsmiths and farmers.

Other important Pre-Columbian cultures include: Moche The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 A.D. to 800 A.D., during the Regional Development Epoch. While still the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state but rather as a group of autonomous polities that shared a common elite culture as (100 BC – 700 AD, at the northern coast of Peru); Tiuahuanaco or Tiwanaku (100 BC – 1200 AD, Bolivia); the Cañaris Cañaris was a South American Indian tribe in central south Ecuador. Their greatest significance was the defense against numerous Incan armies for many years. Through wars and marriages, the Inca Empire conquered their territory under the lead of Huayna Capac to the north. The Canaris were loosely assimilated into the vast empire, allowed to (in south central Ecuador), Paracas The Paracas culture was an important Andean society between approximately 750 BCE and 100 CE, with an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management. It developed in the Paracas Peninsula, located in what today is the Paracas District of the Pisco Province in the Ica Region. Most of our information about the lives of the Paracas people and Nazca The Nasca culture (alternatively spelled Nazca when referring to the geogaphical region; the term Nasca refers to the archaeological culture ) flourished from the first to eighth centuries AD beside the dry southern coast of Peru in the river valleys of the Rio Grande de Nazca drainage and the Ica Valley (Silverman and Proulx, 2002). Having been (400 BC – 800 AD, Peru); Wari or Huari Empire (600 – 1200, Central and northern Peru); Chimu The Chimú were the residents of Chimor with its capital at the city of Chan Chan, a large adobe city, in the Moche valley of Trujillo, Peru. The Inca ruler Tupac Inca Yupanqui led a campaign which conquered the Chimú around 1470 AD, just fifty years before the arrival of the Spanish in the region. Spanish chroniclers were able to record accounts Empire (1300 – 1470, Peruvian northern coast); Chachapoyas; and the Aymaran kingdoms (1000 – 1450, Bolivia and southern Peru).

Holding their capital at the great cougar The Cougar , also known as puma, mountain lion, catamount, or panther, depending on the region, is a mammal of the Felidae family, native to the Americas. This large, solitary cat has the greatest range of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, extending from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An-shaped city of Cusco Cusco or Cuzco is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley (Sacred Valley) of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cusco Province. The city has a population of 348,935 which is triple the figure of 20 years ago. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cusco, its altitude is around 3,300 m (10, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantin suyu, or "the land of the four regions," in Quechua, the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed. Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities, some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 25,000 kilometer road system. Cities were built with precise, unmatched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture.

European colonization

In 1494, Portugal and Spain, the two great maritime powers of that time, on the expectation of new lands being discovered in the west, signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, by which they agreed that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive duopoly between the two countries.

The Treaty established an imaginary line along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands, roughly 46° 37' W. In terms of the treaty, all land to the west of the line (known to comprehend most of the South American soil) would belong to Spain, and all land to the east, to Portugal. As accurate measurements of longitude were impossible at that time, the line was not strictly enforced, resulting in a Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian.

Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors, first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it into colonies.

European infectious diseases (smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus)—to which the native populations had no immune resistance—and systems of forced labor, such as the haciendas and mining industry's mita, decimated the native population under Spanish control.

African slaves were brought in large quantities for several centuries for a number of reasons, both political and economical; however, it was mainly because they were much better fitted than the American natives for hard labor in tropical climate such as sugar cane plantations or gold mining.

The Spaniards were committed to convert their native subjects to Christianity and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end; however, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as native groups simply blended Catholicism with traditional idolatry and their polytheistic beliefs. Furthermore, the Spaniards did impose their language to the degree they did their religion, although the Roman Catholic Church's evangelization in Quechua, Aymara, and Guaraní actually contributed to the continuous use of these native languages albeit only in the oral form.

Eventually, the natives and the Spaniards interbred, forming a mestizo class. Essentially all of the mestizos of the Andean region were offspring of Amerindian mothers and Spanish fathers. Mestizos and the Indian natives were often forced to pay extraordinary taxes to the Spanish crown and were punished more harshly for disobeying the law.

Many native artworks were considered pagan idols and destroyed by Spanish explorers; this included many gold and silver sculptures and other artifacts found in South America, which were melted down before their transport to Spain or Portugal.

Guyana was a Portuguese, Dutch, and eventually a British colony. The country was once partitioned into three, each being controlled by one of the colonial powers until the country was finally taken over fully by the British.

Independence

The South American possessions of the Spanish Crown won their independence between 1804 and 1876 in the South American Wars of Independence. Simón Bolívar of Venezuela and José de San Martín of Argentina were the most important leaders of the independence struggles. Bolívar led a great uprising in northern South America, then led his army southward towards Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Meanwhile, San Martín led an army from the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata across the Andes Mountains, meeting up with General Bernardo O'Higgins in Chile, and then marched northward to gain the military support of various rebels from the Viceroyalty of Peru. The two armies finally met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where they cornered the Royal Army of the Spanish Crown and forced its surrender.

In the Portuguese colony of Brazil, Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese King Dom João VI, proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first Emperor. This was peacefully accepted by the crown in Portugal.

Although Bolivar attempted to unify politically the Spanish-speaking parts of the continent into the "Gran Colombia", they rapidly became independent states without political connections between them, despite some later attempts such as the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation.

A few countries did not gain independence until the 20th century:

• Guyana, from the United Kingdom, in 1966
• Suriname, from Dutch control, in 1975

French Guiana remains part of France.

The Falkland Islands and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands archipelagos are British territories.

Recent history

The continent became a battlefield of the Cold War in the late 20th century. Some governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay were overthrown or displaced by United States-aligned military dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s. To curtail opposition, their governments detained tens of thousands of political prisoners, many of whom were tortured and/or killed on inter-state collaboration. Economically, they began a transition to neoliberal economic policies. They placed their own actions within the U.S. Cold War doctrine of "National Security" against internal subversion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peru suffered from an internal conflict.

Colombia currently faces an internal conflict, which started in 1964 with the creation of Marxist guerrillas (FARC-EP) and now involves several illegal armed groups of leftist leaning ideology as well as the private armies of powerful drug lords.

Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships became common after World War II, but since the 1980s a wave of democratization came through the continent, and democratic rule is widespread now.^[3] Nonetheless, allegations of corruption are still very common, and several countries have developed crises which have forced the resignation of their governments, although, in most occasions, regular civilian succession has continued this far.

International indebtedness turned into a severe problem in late 1980s, and some countries, despite having strong democracies, have not yet developed political institutions capable of handling such crises without recurring to unorthodox economical policies, as most recently illustrated by Argentina's default in the early 21st century.^[4]

Politics

During the first decade of the 21st century, South American governments have drifted to the political left, with socialist leaders being elected in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela. Despite the move to the left, South America for the most part still embraces free market policies, and it is taking an active path toward greater continental integration.

Recently, an intergovernmental entity has been formed which aims to merge the two existing customs unions: Mercosur and the Andean Community, thus forming the third-largest trade bloc in the world.^[5] This new political organization known as Union of South American Nations seeks to establish free movement of people, economic development, a common defense policy and the elimination of tariffs.

Geography

South America occupies the minor southern portion of the landmass sometimes referred to as the New World. The continent is generally delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, or (according to some sources) by the Panama Canal which transects the Isthmus of Panama. Geopolitically and geographically^[6] all of Panama – including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus – is typically included in North America alone^[7][8][9] and among the countries of Central America.^[10][11] Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate.

Many of the islands of the Caribbean (or West Indies) – e.g., the Leeward and Lesser Antilles – sit atop the Caribbean Plate, a tectonic plate with a diffuse topography. The islands of Aruba, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago sit on the northerly South American continental shelf. The Netherlands Antilles and the federal dependencies of Venezuela lie along the northerly South American shelf. Geopolitically, the island states and overseas territories of the Caribbean are generally grouped as a part or subregion of North America.^[12][13][14] The South American nations that border the Caribbean Sea — including Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana — are also known as Caribbean South America. Other islands are the Galápagos islands that belong to Ecuador and Easter Island (in Oceania but belongs to Chile), Robinson Crusoe Island, Chiloé, and the Tierra del Fuego.

South America is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela; the largest river (by volume), the Amazon River; the longest mountain range, the Andes (whose highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962 m (22,841 ft)); the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert;^[15][16][17] the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest; the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia; the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca; and, excluding research stations in Antarctica, the world's southernmost permanently inhabited community, Puerto Toro, Chile.

South America's major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. The many resources of South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies. The fluctuation in the price of commodities in the international markets has led historically to major highs and lows in the economies of South American states, often causing extreme political instability. This is leading to efforts to diversify production to drive away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export.

South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth. South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a major proportion of the Earth's species. Regions in South America include the Andean States, the Guianas, the Southern Cone, and Brazil which is the largest country by far, in both area and population.

Demographics

Descendants of Indigenous peoples, such as the Quechua and Aymara, make up the majority of the population in Bolivia, Peru^[18][19] and are a significant element in most other former Spanish colonies.

People of European descent are a majority in Argentina,^[20] Uruguay, to a lesser extent Chile^[21][22]

South America is also home to one of the biggest population of Africans. This group is also significantly present in Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname and Ecuador.^[23] Mestizos (mixed white and Amerindian) are the largest ethnic group in Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. East Indians form the largest ethnic groups in Guyana and Suriname. Brazil followed by Peru also have the biggest Japanese and Chinese communities in South America.^[24]

Brazil is the most diverse country in South America, with large population of Whites, Blacks and Mulattos, also having a sizeable community of Middle Easterns and Asians.

Indigenous peoples

• Alacalufe, Atacameños, Aymara, Awá, Aguarunas, Ashanincas
• Banawa, Cañaris, Caiapos, Chibcha
• Cocama, Diaguitas, Chayahuita, Enxet
• Gê, Guaraní, Juris, Mapuche
• Matsés, Pehuenche, Quechuas, Shipibo
• Shuar, Tupi, Xucuru, Urarina, Wayuu
• Yagua, Yąnomamö, Zaparos, Arawaks, Wai Wai

Economy

Because of histories of high inflation in nearly all South American countries, interest rates remain high and investment remains low. Interest rates are usually twice that of the United States. For example, interest-rates are about 22% in Venezuela and 23% in Suriname. The exception is Chile, which has been implementing free market economic policies since establishing military dictatorship in 1973 and has been increasing its social spending since the return of democratic rule in the early 1990s. This has led to economic stability and interest rates in the low single digits.

South America relies heavily on the exporting of goods and natural resources. On an exchange rate basis Brazil (the seventh largest economy in the world and the second largest in America) leads the way in total amount of exports at $137.8 billion dollars followed by Chile at 58.12 billion and Argentina with 46.46 billion.^[32]

The economic gap between the rich and poor in most South American nations is considered to be larger than in most other continents. In Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia and many other South American countries, the richest 20% may own over 60% of the nation's wealth, while the poorest 20% may own less than 5%. This wide gap can be seen in many large South American cities where makeshift shacks and slums lie adjacent to skyscrapers and upper-class luxury apartments.

At the beginning of August 2008, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his colleagues from Argentina and Brazil spoke about Latin American integration. At that time, Chavez put forth an ambitious idea; he proposed the construction of a railway that would connect Caracas with Buenos Aires.^[36]

Tourism

Tourism has increasingly become a significant source of income for many South American countries.^[37][38] Historical relics, architectural and natural wonders, a diverse range of foods and culture, vibrant and colorful cities, and stunning landscapes attract millions of tourists every year to South America. Some of the most visited places in the region are Machu Picchu, the Amazon Rainforest, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Angel Falls, Cuzco, Lake Titicaca, Patagonia, Cartagena and the Galápagos islands.^[39][40]

Culture

South Americans are culturally influenced by the historic connection with Europe, especially Spain and Portugal, and the impact of mass culture from the United States of America.

South American nations have a rich variety of music. Some of the most famous genres include cumbia from Colombia, samba and bossa nova from Brazil, and tango from Argentina and Uruguay. Also well known is the non-commercial folk genre Nueva Canción movement which was founded in Argentina and Chile and quickly spread to the rest of the Latin America. People on the Peruvian coast created the fine guitar and cajon duos or trios in the most mestizo (mixed) of South American rhythms such as the Marinera (from Lima), the Tondero (from Piura), the 19th century popular Creole Valse or Peruvian Valse, the soulful Arequipan Yaravi, and the early 20th century Paraguayan Guarania. In the late 20th century, Spanish rock emerged by young hipsters influenced by British pop and American rock. Brazil has a Portuguese-language pop rock industry as well a great variety of other music genres.

The literature of South America has attracted considerable critical and popular acclaim, especially with the Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez in novels, and Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges in other genres.

Because of South America's broad ethnic mix, South American cuisine takes on African, American Indian, Asian, and European influences. Bahia, Brazil, is especially well-known for its West African-influenced cuisine. Argentines, Chileans, Uruguayans, Brazilians and Venezuelans regularly consume wine, while Argentina along with Paraguay, Uruguay, and people in southern Chile and Brazil enjoy mate, a regional brewed herb cultivated for its drink, the Paraguayan version, terere, differing from the others in that it's served cold. Pisco is a liquor distilled from grapevine produced in Peru and Chile; however, there is a recurring dispute between those countries regarding its origins. Peruvian cuisine mixes elements from Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, African, Andean, and Amazonic food.

Language

Portuguese, is the most spoken language in South America, a geographic region which is part of the bigger cultural region of Latin America. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, which holds over 50% of the South American population. Spanish is the official language of most countries of the continent. Dutch is the official language of Suriname; English is the official language of Guyana, although there are at least twelve other languages spoken in the country such as Hindi and Arabic. English is also spoken in the Falkland Islands. French is the official language of French Guiana.

Indigenous languages of South America include Quechua in Ecuador, Peru, Chile Argentina and Bolivia; Guaraní in Paraguay and, to a much less extent, in Bolivia; Aymara in Bolivia, Peru, and less often in Chile; and Mapudungun is spoken in certain pockets of southern Chile and, more rarely, Argentina. At least three South American indigenous languages (Quechua, Aymara, and Guarani) are recognized along with Spanish as national languages.

Other languages found in South America include Tamil, Hindi and Indonesian in Suriname; Italian in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Chile; and German in certain pockets of Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Paraguay. German is also spoken in many regions of the southern states of Brazil, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch being the most widely spoken German dialect in the country; among other Germanic dialects, a Brazilian form of Pomeranian is also well represented and is experiencing a revival. Welsh remains spoken and written in the historic towns of Trelew and Rawson in the Argentine Patagonia. There are also small clusters of Japanese-speakers in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, and Ecuador. Arabic speakers, often of Lebanese, Syrian, or Palestinian descent, can be found in Arab communities in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and less frequently in Colombia and Paraguay.

In most of the continent's countries, the upper classes and well-educated people regularly study English, French, German, or Italian, and are typically well-traveled. In those areas where tourism is a significant industry, English and some other European languages are often spoken. There are small Portuguese speaking areas in northernmost Uruguay because of the proximity of Brazil.

Sport

See also

• Americas (terminology)
• Flags of South America

References

Content notes

^ Continent Model: In some parts of the world South America is viewed as a subcontinent of America^[41][42] (a single continent in these areas), for example Latin America, Latin Europe, and Iran. In most of the countries with English as an official language, however, it is considered a continent. See Continent.

Notes

1. ^ "South America. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2001-6. New York, Columbia University Press": "fourth largest continent ..., the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere."
2. ^ ^{a b c} O'Brien, Patrick. (General Editor). Oxford Atlas of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. pp. 25
3. ^ "The Cambridge History of Latin America", edited by Leslie Bethell, Cambridge University Press (1995) ISBN 0-521-39525-9
4. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=6tNWbywFXhkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=latin+american+history
5. ^ Globalpolicy.org
6. ^ Cohen, Saul Bernard. 2003. "North and Middle America" (Ch. 5). Geopolitics of the World System (ISBN 0847699072)
7. ^ "Americas" Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49), United Nations Statistics Division
8. ^ "North America" Atlas of Canada
9. ^ North America AtlasNational Geographic
10. ^ "Panama". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
11. ^ Geography: Panama CIA World Factbook 2008.
12. ^ South America Atlas National Geographic
13. ^ North America Atlas National Geographic
14. ^ Unstats Americas
15. ^ "Atacama Desert @ National Geographic Magazine". Ngm.nationalgeographic.com. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0308/feature3/. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
16. ^ "Driest Place | Driest Desert Atacama Desert". Extremescience.com. 2007-01-25. http://www.extremescience.com/DriestPlace.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
17. ^ http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/marsanalog/egypt/AtacamaAdAstra.pdf
18. ^ "CIA World Factbook". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pe.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
19. ^ "CIA World Factbook". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
20. ^ "CIA World Factbook". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/ar.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
21. ^ Latinoamerica.
22. ^ "Argentina, como Chile y Uruguay, su población está formada casi exclusivamente por una población blanca e blanca mestiza procedente del sur de Europa, más del 90% E. García Zarza, 1992, 19". Geografia.fflch.usp.br. http://www.geografia.fflch.usp.br/publicacoes/Geousp/Geousp13/Geousp13_Intercambio_Maurel.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
23. ^ "Bartleby". Bartleby. http://www.bartleby.com/64/C006/036.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
24. ^ "Japan Times". Search.japantimes.co.jp. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080115i1.html=search.japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
25. ^ ^{a b} Land areas and population estimates are taken from The 2008 World Factbook which currently uses July 2007 data, unless otherwise noted.
26. ^ La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia; Sucre is the judicial seat.
27. ^ Includes Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean, a Chilean territory frequently reckoned in Oceania. Santiago is the administrative capital of Chile; Valparaíso is the site of legislative meetings.
28. ^ Claimed by Argentina.
29. ^ Falkland Islands: July 2008 population estimate. CIA World Factbook.
30. ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. "Population des régions au 1er janvier". http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?reg_id=99&ref_id=CMRSOS02137. Retrieved on 2009-01-20.
31. ^ Also claimed by Argentina, the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean are commonly associated with Antarctica (due to proximity) and have no permanent population, only hosting a periodic contingent of about 100 researchers and visitors.
32. ^ "CIA - The World Factbook - Rank Order - Exports". Cia.gov. 2009-04-09. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
33. ^ Source: [1]
34. ^ ^{a b} Source: [2]
35. ^ ^{a b} (French) INSEE-CEROM. "Les comptes économiques de la Guyane en 2006 : premiers résultats". http://prod-afd.afd.zeni.fr/jahia/webdav/site/cerom/users/admin_cerom/public/Pdf/CR2006_guy.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
36. ^ "Train across South America". Treehugger.com. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/train-to-cross-south-america-southern-train-venezuela-argentina.php. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
37. ^ "Bigtravelweb". Bigtravelweb. 2008-10-13. http://bigtravelweb.com/travel/2008/10/13/tourism-trends-visitor-numbers/. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
38. ^ Latin American tourism growth
39. ^ "Top attractions". Gosouthamerica.about.com. 2007-12-04. http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/topdestinations/tp/Attractions2006.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
40. ^ Backpackers destination
41. ^ "South America Travel, Tour To South America Continent". http://travour.com/south-america/index.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
42. ^ Ambassador Rubens A. Barbosa. "MERCOSUL IN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT". http://www.brasilemb.org/embassy/embaixador_regional.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.

Sources

• "South America". The Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online. 2005. New York: Columbia University Press.
• GeoHive: The population of continents, regions and countries

External links

Categories: South America | Continents

See Also:

• South American
• South Africa
• American Cuisine
• American Civil War
• New American Cuisine

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