South America

World Geography South

South America Location
South America is
located in the
western hemisphere
and mostly in the
southern
hemisphere
A relatively small
portion of the
continent is in the
northern hemisphere
South America Location
South America
borders:
The Pacific Ocean
to the west
The Atlantic Ocean
to the north and
east
North America and
the Caribbean Sea
to the northwest
South America Overview
There are 12 sovereign
countries in South America:
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uraguay
Venezuela
 South America
Overview
In terms of land area, South America
is the fourth largest continent:
1. Asia
2. Africa
3. North America
4. South America
5. Antarctica
6. Europe
7. Australia
 South America
Overview
Countries of South America by land area
(world rank):
Brazil (5)
Argentina (8)
Peru (19)
Colombia (25)
Bolivia (27)
Venezuela (32)
Chile (37)
Paraguay (59)
Ecuador (73)
Guyana (83)
Uruguay (89)
Suriname (90)
 South America
Overview
South America is the worlds fifth
most populous continent:
1. Asia: ~4.4 billion
2. Africa: ~ 1.2 billion
3. Europe: ~ 739,000,000
4. North America: ~ 579,000,000
5. South America: ~423,000,000
6. Australia/Oceania: ~40,000,000
7. Antarctica: no permanent residents
 South America
Overview
Countries of South America by population:
1. Brazil, 204,259,812 (5)
2. Colombia, 46,736,728 (29)
3. Argentina, 43,431,886 (32)
4. Peru, 30,444,999 (43)
5. Venezuela, 29,275,460 (44)
6. Chile, 17,508,260 (63)
7. Ecuador, 15,868,396 (67)
8. Bolivia, 10,800,882 (81)
9. Paraguay, 6,783,272 (104)
10. Uruguay, 3,341,893 (133)
11. Guyana, 735,222 (166)
12. Suriname, 579,633 (170)
South America - Overview
There are two non-
sovereign states in
South America:
French Guiana, an
French Guiana
overseas department
of France
The Falkland Islands, a
British overseas
territory that has been
disputed by Argentina
Falkland Islands
 South America Islands
Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for
Land of Fire) is an archipelago
off of the southernmost tip of
South America, across the Strait
of Magellan
The islands are split between
Argentina and Chile
 South America Rivers

The Amazon River is the largest

river by discharge of water in
the world
It is also either the first or
second longest river in the
world, depending on what is
considered its true source
South America Rainforests

The Amazon Rainforest is the

largest and most biodiverse tract
of tropical rainforest in the world
The majority of the rainforest is
located within Brazil
The Amazon represents over half
the worlds remaining
rainforests
 South America - Lakes

Lake Titicaca is a large, deep

lake in the Andes on the border
of Peru and Bolivia
It is the largest lake in South
America by volume of water
South America - Lakes
Lake Maracaibo is a
large brackish bay
connected to the
Gulf of Venezuela
It can be considered
a bay or lagoon,
and some consider
it a lake
As a lake, it would
be the largest lake
in South America by
surface area
 South America
Mountain Ranges

With a length of approximately

4,300 miles, the Andes mountain
range is the longest continental
mountain range in the world
Located along the west coast of
South America, it is the tallest
mountain range not in Asia
South America Mountains

At 22,837 feet high, Mt.

Aconcagua is the highest
mountain in South America
It is also the highest mountain
not located in Asia
Located in the Andes mountain
range in Argentina
 South America Physical
Geography
The Atacama Desert is a plateau
in South America west of the
Andes mountains
It is the driest non-polar desert
in the world
 South America History
South America is thought
to have first been
inhabited by humans at
least 15,000 years ago
Early settlers crossed the
Bering land bridge from
Asia to North America,
then migrated south
By 2000 B.C., many
agricultural communities
had settled throughout the
Andes region
 South America History
The highly developed
Inca civilization
dominated the Andes
region from 1438 to
1533
The Inca ruled
between 9 and 14
million people
connected by a road
system
Portrait of Atahualpa, the last
sovereign emperor of the Inca
 South America History
Beginning in the 1530s,
the people and natural
resources of South America
would be exploited by
conquistadors, first from
Spain and then from
Portugal
European diseases caused
widespread death among
native populations
 South America History
Conflicts between
Europeans and Native
Americans would
continue through the
17th and 18th centuries
Indigenous peoples of
the Americas would
Depiction of recently bought slaves in be forced to work for
Brazil Europeans along with
slaves brought from
Africa
 South America History
In the 1800s, the
Spanish colonies
would win their
independence
Simn Bolvar, Jos
de San Martn, and
Bernardo O'Higgins
led independence
struggles
Simon Bolivar
South America History
Brazil would be
granted
independence by
Portugal in 1822
During the 1800s, a
struggle for power
emerged among the
new South American
nations, and several
wars were fought
Brazil
 South America - History
The Paraguayan War,
also known as the War
of the Triple Alliance,
was fought from 1864 to
1870 between Paraguay
and the alliance of
Argentina, Brazil, and
Uruguay
With 400,000 deaths,
A Paraguayan cavalry unit being
the war was the attacked
deadliest in Latin
Americas history
South America History

Wars became less

frequent in the
1900s
Guyana and
Suriname would
become
independent in the
1900s
 South America
Governments
Following the end of
World War Two in
1945, revolutionary
movements and right-
wing military
dictatorships became
common throughout
South America
In the 1980s, many
Former Chilean dictator
countries became
Augusto Pinochet assumed democratic
power in 1973 following a
 South America
Governments
Today, all South
American countries
have some form of
democratic rule
Allegations of
corruption are still
common, and many
countries have faced
crises that have forced
their presidents to
resign
 South America
Governments
Since the beginning
of the 21st century,
most South American
countries have
elected left-leaning
leaders, including:
Chile, Uruguay, Brazil,
Argentina, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Paraguay,
Peru, and Venezuela
South America
Governments
The Union of South
American Nations is an
organization comprising
the 12 South American
countries
It seeks to establish
economic development,
free movement of
people, a common
defense policy, and more
 South America
Economies
From the 1930s to the
1980s, South American
countries tried to
replace foreign
businesses and
imports with domestic
production
Since the 1990s, South
American countries
have switched to free-
market economies
 South America
Economies
Major economic activities in
South America include
agriculture, forestry, and mining
South American countries rely
less on the export of
manufactured goods and natural
resources than the world
average
South America Economies
Brazil has the largest
economy in South
America and the
seventh-largest
economy in the world
The economic gap
between the rich and
the poor in most South
American nations is
larger than in most
other continents
 South America
Economies
South American countries ranked by nominal
gross domestic product (world rank):
1. Brazil (7)
2. Argentina (26)
3. Colombia (41)
4. Chile (42)
5. Venezuela (48)
6. Peru (51)
7. Ecuador (61)
8. Uruguay (77)
9. Bolivia (96)
10. Paraguay (101)
11. Suriname (153)
12. Guyana (157)
 South America
Economies
South American countries ranked by nominal
gross domestic product per capita (world rank):
1. Uruguay, $15,748 (45)
2. Argentina, $13,589 (51)
3. Chile, $13,341 (52)
4. Suriname, $9,306 (63)
5. Brazil, $7,996 (71)
6. Venezuela, $7,745 (73)
7. Colombia, $6,084 (81)
8. Ecuador, $6,071 (82)
9. Peru, $6,021 (85)
10. Guyana, $4,125 (101)
11. Paraguay, $4,010 (105)
12. Bolivia, $2,886 (122)
 South America -
Economies
Tourism has become an
increasingly significant source of
income for many South American
countries
Brazil hosted the 2014 FIFA
World Cup and the 2016 Summer
Olympics
South America Cultures
South American cultures have
been influenced by native
peoples and by historic
connections with Spain,
Portugal, and Africa
South America Cultures
Spanish and Portuguese
are the most spoken
languages in South
America, with about 200
million speakers of each
Spanish is the official
language of most
countries
Portuguese is the official
language of Brazil
Several indigenous
languages are also
spoken
South America Cultures
Roman Catholicism, a Christian
religion, is the dominant religion
in South America
Over 80% of people in Spanish-
speaking countries and an
estimated 65%-70% of Brazilians
are Roman Catholic
 South America Cultures
South American nations
have a variety of musical
styles
Samba is a popular
Brazilian musical genre and
dance style
Tango is a style of music
that originated among
European immigrant
populations in Argentina
and Uruguay
Argentine Tango dancers in
the streets of Buenos Aires
 South America Cultures
Football (soccer)
is the most
popular sport in
South America
All winners of the
FIFA World Cup
have come from
either South
America or Europe The 1970 FIFA World Cup-winning
Brazilian team, considered by many
to be the greatest football team
ever
 South America - Cultures
Other popular
sports in South
America include
basketball, cycling,
polo, volleyball,
tennis, and more
Baseball is the
most popular sport
in Venezuela
Venezuelan baseball player
Miguel Cabrera
 South America
Interesting Info

Angel Falls is the

worlds highest
uninterrupted
waterfall with a
height of 3,212 feet
and a plunge of
2,648 feet
Located in
Venezuela
 Brazil Interesting Info
Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the
Iguazu River located on the
border of Argentina and Brazil
The name Iguazu comes from
native words and means water
and big
 South America
Interesting Info
The Mano del Desierto (Hand of
the Desert) is a large-scale
sculpture of a hand in the
Atacama Desert in Chile
Completed in 1992, it has
become a tourist attraction
 South America
Interesting Info
The Chapada Diamantina
National Park is located in the
state of Bahia in Brazil
It contains a 120-foot deep well
known as the Enchanted Well
The wells water clear enough
that rocks can be seen beneath
the surface
 South America
Interesting Info
Salar De Uyuni is the worlds
largest salt flat
It is located approximately
12,000 feet above sea level in
southwest Bolivia
During rainy season, the sky is
reflected in water
 South America
Interesting Info
Mt. Roraima is the highest of the
Pakaraima chain of tepui
plateaus in South America
It is bounded on all sides by cliffs
rising 1,300 feet
It is located on the border of
Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil

Pictured the view from the top of Mt. Roraima

 South America
Interesting Info
Machu Picchu is believed to have
been a royal estate or sacred
religious site for Inca leaders
The Inca built it around 1450,
but abandoned it about a
century later at the time of the
Spanish conquest
It remained unknown to the
outside world until 1911