What Is South America?
South America is the world's fourth-largest continent by area, covering about 17.84 million km². It is connected to North America by the narrow Isthmus of Panama in the north, and tapers to a cold, windswept tip — Cape Horn — at the far south.
Key facts:
- Number of countries: 12 (plus French Guiana, an overseas territory of France)
- Largest country (by area and population): Brazil — nearly half the continent
- Highest mountain: Aconcagua (6,961 m) in Argentina — the highest peak outside Asia
- Longest river: Amazon River (approximately 6,400 km) — carrier of the most water on Earth
- Total population: approximately 440 million
- Most spoken languages: Spanish and Portuguese (Brazil)
South America is home to extraordinary natural features — from the world's largest rainforest to the world's longest mountain range and the world's highest waterfall.
The Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest, covering about 5.5 million km² — an area larger than the entire continent of Europe. It spans nine countries, with the majority (about 60%) in Brazil.
- The rainforest is home to an estimated 10% of all species on Earth, including over 40,000 plant species, 1,300 bird species, 3,000 types of fish, and millions of insects.
- The Amazon River carries about 20% of all the fresh water that flows into the world's oceans. During flood season, the river can be up to 50 km wide in places.
- The Amazon Basin produces so much oxygen and absorbs so much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that scientists sometimes call it the "lungs of the Earth."
- Indigenous peoples have lived in the Amazon for thousands of years and have deep knowledge of medicinal plants and forest survival.
Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall. Water plunges 979 metres from Auyán-Tepuí, a flat-topped mountain called a tepui — nearly 15 times the height of Niagara Falls in North America. The falls are so tall that much of the water turns to fine mist before it reaches the pool at the bottom.
The Andes Mountains
The Andes form the world's longest continental mountain range, stretching approximately 7,000 km along the entire western edge of South America — from Venezuela and Colombia in the north to Chile and Argentina in the south.
- The Andes were formed by the subduction of the Nazca tectonic plate beneath the South American plate — as the Nazca plate dives under, it causes the land to buckle and push upward.
- They contain many active volcanoes and cause frequent earthquakes.
- Lake Titicaca (3,812 m above sea level) sits on the border of Peru and Bolivia in the Andes — the world's highest navigable lake. For thousands of years, the Uros people have lived on floating islands built from reeds on its surface.
- The ancient city of Machu Picchu in Peru was built high in the Andes by the Inca civilisation around 1450 CE.
- The Atacama Desert, on the western slopes of the Andes in Chile and Peru, is the driest non-polar desert on Earth. Some areas have recorded no rainfall in recorded history.
Climate and Landscapes
South America has remarkably diverse landscapes in a relatively compact area:
| Region | Climate / Feature |
|---|---|
| Amazon Basin | Tropical rainforest: hot and wet all year |
| Cerrado (central Brazil) | Tropical savanna: wet and dry seasons |
| Atacama Desert (Chile) | Desert: the driest non-polar place on Earth |
| Pampas (Argentina, Uruguay) | Fertile temperate grasslands — major cattle ranching region |
| Patagonia (southern Argentina) | Cold, windy steppe and glaciers |
| Caribbean coast | Tropical and humid |
The Galápagos Islands, an archipelago belonging to Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, are famous for their unique wildlife — including giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and finches with different-shaped beaks on different islands. British naturalist Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835, and his observations there helped him develop his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Real world: Amazon deforestation — forest loss visible from satellite
Brazil's Amazon rainforest has lost over 20% of its original cover since the 1970s — an area larger than France. The main drivers are cattle ranching, soy farming (much of it to feed livestock in Europe and China), logging, and road building that opens remote areas. In peak years, an area the size of a football pitch was being cleared every single minute. Beyond biodiversity loss, deforestation releases enormous amounts of CO₂ and disrupts the water cycle: the Amazon generates its own rainfall through tree transpiration, and as forest is lost, rainfall patterns change, affecting farming as far away as Argentina. Brazil's deforestation rate dropped significantly after 2004 under stronger monitoring and penalties, then rose again under different governments — demonstrating how policy choices directly affect geographic outcomes.
Real world: The Atacama Desert and lithium for electric vehicles
The Atacama Desert in Chile and Argentina sits at high altitude between the Andes and the Pacific coast, and is the driest non-polar place on Earth. Beneath its salt flats lies one of the world's largest reserves of lithium — the metal used in rechargeable batteries for electric cars and smartphones. Chile holds about 25% of global lithium reserves. As the world shifts to electric vehicles, demand for lithium has soared, making the Atacama geopolitically significant in a completely new way. But lithium mining requires vast quantities of water in one of the driest places on Earth, threatening local water supplies and fragile desert ecosystems. The Atacama illustrates how physical geography (extreme aridity, mineral deposits) intersects with the global green energy transition.
Real world: Venezuelan oil wealth and the resource curse
Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves — larger even than Saudi Arabia. In the 20th century, oil wealth turned Venezuela into South America's richest country, funding schools, hospitals, and subsidised food. But this dependence on a single resource led to what economists call the "resource curse": when oil prices fell or were mismanaged, the entire economy collapsed. By the 2010s, Venezuela was experiencing hyperinflation, food shortages, and one of the largest emigrations in Latin American history — over 7 million people left. This story is not unique to Venezuela: Bolivia, Ecuador, and other South American countries have all struggled with balancing resource extraction against broader economic development. Geography provides the resource; human choices determine whether it becomes a blessing or a curse.
South America's geography shapes what you consume every day. Brazilian soy is in the feed given to chickens and pigs across Europe. Chilean copper is in the wiring of virtually every electrical device. Colombian and Brazilian coffee is the most traded agricultural commodity after oil. Peruvian quinoa has become a global superfood. Understanding South America's physical geography — its soils, rivers, mountains, and climate — helps explain how it feeds, fuels, and supplies the world.
Countries and Biodiversity
South America's 12 countries each have distinct cultures, landscapes, and wildlife:
| Country | Notable Feature |
|---|---|
| Brazil | Largest country; houses most of the Amazon |
| Argentina | Pampas grasslands, Patagonia, Aconcagua |
| Peru | Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Amazon headwaters |
| Venezuela | Angel Falls, llanos (tropical grasslands) |
| Chile | Atacama Desert, long Pacific coastline, glaciers |
| Colombia | Biodiverse; both Pacific and Caribbean coasts |
South America is considered one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador are among the most biologically rich nations on Earth.
Practice Problems
Why does the Amazon River carry far more water than any other river in the world?
Show answer
Explain how the Andes mountains were formed and name two features found in or near them.