Geography of South America

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Geographically, South America is generally considered a continent forming the southern portion of the American landmass, south and east of the Panama Canal transecting the Isthmus of Panama. Depending on source, South and North America are sometimes considered a single continent or supercontinent, while constituent regions are infrequently considered subcontinents. Geopolitically, all of Panama – including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus – is often considered a part of North America alone and among the countries of Central America.

It became attached to North America only recently (geologically speaking) with the formation of the Isthmus of Panama some 3 million years ago, which resulted in the Great American Interchange. The Andes, likewise a comparatively young and seismically restless mountain range, run down the western edge of the continent; the land to the east of the Andes is largely tropical rain forest, the vast Amazon River basin. The continent also contains drier regions such as Patagonia and the extremely arid Atacama desert.

The South American continent also includes various islands, most of which belong to countries on the continent. The Caribbean territories are grouped with North America. The South American nations that border the Caribbean Sea – including Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana – are also known as Caribbean South America.

South America contains the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, the largest river (by volume), the Amazon River, the longest mountain range, the Andes, the driest desert, Atacama, the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest, the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia, and the world's southernmost city, Ushuaia, Argentina.

South America's major natural resources are copper, iron ore, tin, and oil. The many resources of South America have become useful around the world. However, they often have hindered the development of diversified economies. This has led to major highs and lows in the economy of South American states, often also causing political instability.

South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, pirana, jaguar, vicuna, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a major proportion of the Earth's species.

The largest country in South America by far, in both area and population, is Brazil, followed by Argentina. Regions in South America include the Andean States, the Guianas, the Southern Cone, and Eastern South America.

[edit] Territories

Name of territory, with flag	Area (km²)	Population (1 July 2002 est.)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Argentina	2,766,890	39,537,943	14.3	Buenos Aires
Bolivia	1,098,580	8,857,870	8.1	La Paz, Sucre[1]
Brazil	8,511,965	186,112,794	21.9	Brasília
Chile[2]	756,950	15,980,912	21.1	Santiago
Colombia	1,138,910	42,954,279	37.7	Bogotá
Ecuador	283,560	13,363,593	47.1	Quito
Falkland Islands (UK)[3]	12,173	2,967	0.24	Stanley
French Guiana (France)	91,000	195,506	2.1	Cayenne
Guyana	214,970	765,283	3.6	Georgetown
Paraguay	406,750	6,347,884	15.6	Asunción
Peru	1,285,220	27,925,628	21.7	Lima
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (UK)[4]	3,093	—	—	Grytviken
Suriname	163,270	438,144	2.7	Paramaribo
Uruguay	176,220	3,415,920	19.4	Montevideo
Venezuela	912,050	25,375,281	27.8	Caracas
Central America[5]:
Panama[6]	25,347	540,433	21.3	Panama City
Total	17,846,954	371,814,437	20.8

Notes:

1. ^ La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia; Sucre is the judicial seat.
   
2. ^ 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.
   
3. ^ Claimed by Argentina.
   
4. ^ 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.
   
5. ^ Continental region as per UN categorisations/map; depending on definitions, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago have territory in one or both of South and North America.
6. ^ Panama is generally considered a transcontinental country in Central America (UN region) and South America; population and area figures are for South American portion only, east of the Panama Canal.