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Wednesday 14 March 2018

South America

South America is the fourth largest of the continents, nearly twice as large as Europe.

South America ranks fifth in population of the continents (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America).

A composite relief image of South America

The population of South America was originally American Indians, who survive chiefly in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

In the 16th century the arrival of Europeans with the Spanish and Portuguese conquest, resulted the American Indians being mainly killed or assimilated. Where they were unsuitable for slave labor, the Indians were replaced by slaves imported from Africa.

In the 19th century Napoleon's toppling of the Spanish throne opened the way for the independence of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Brazil became peacefully independent, large scale European immigration took place and interstate wars took a heavy toll such as the Paraguayan war and the Pacific War.

The proclamation of the Independence of Brazil by Prince Pedro

The final boundaries of the southern United States were formed on December 30, 1853 creating North and South America.

In the 20th century there was rapid industrialization and high population growth in South America. Heavily indebtedness was incurred to fund economic expansion, which led in the 1980s to an inability to meet interest payments and a world stump.

South America is separated from North America by the Panama Canal.


Brazil, the largest country in South America, comprises almost half of the land area and population of the continent.

The remaining countries and territories are divided among three regions: The Guineas, which include Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, The Andean Republics, which include Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile  (not considered to be geopolitically an Andean State), Ecuador, and Peru and The Southern Cone, which comprises Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile (geopoltically) and Argentina.


Spanish and Portuguese are the most spoken languages in South America, with approximately 200 million speakers each.



By Patrick87 - This file was derived from:  Languages of South America.svg, 

Source Hutchinson Encyclopedia

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