South America is the southern part of the Americas, linked to North America by the Isthmus of Panama. It has twelve countries—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela—plus the French territory of French Guiana. Just east of Argentina, the Falkland Islands sit on the South American continental shelf but are administered by the United Kingdom. Spanish and Portuguese are the main languages, and the economy relies on farming, mining, and oil. Major physical zones are the Andes Mountains along the west coast; the Amazon Basin in the north; the Guiana Shield in the northeast; the Brazilian Highlands in the east and south-central area; the Pampas grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay; Patagonia in the far south; and the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The climate is tropical near the equator and becomes cooler and windier toward the southern tip.
South America
South America map
02000 km (1243 mi)4000 km (2485 mi)6000 km (3728 mi)8000 km (4971 mi)
Height
0 m (0 ft), 200 m (656 ft), 500 m (1640 ft), 1000 m (3280 ft), 1500 m (4920 ft), 2500 m (8200 ft), 3000 m (9840 ft), 4000 m (13120 ft), above 5000 m (16400 ft)Sea depth
0 m (0 ft), 150 m (492 ft), 600 m (1970 ft), 1800 m (5910 ft), 3200 m (10500 ft), deeper than 5200 m (17060 ft)Permanent snow and iceWinter snow (approximate)