Partners in South America

South America is a continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with about a quarter in the Northern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean. North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. The continent does not include Central America.

South America was named in 1507 by cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann after Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a New World unknown to Europeans.

South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America).

South America occupies the major southern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or simply America and South. It is south and east of the Colombia-Panama border according to most authorities or, according to a few, the Panama Canal which transects the Isthmus of Panama. Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate. Geopolitically and geographically, all of Panama ? including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus ? is generally considered a part of North America alone and among the countries of Central America.

The South American continent also includes various islands, many of which belong to countries on the continent. Many of the islands of the Caribbean (or West Indies), the Leeward and Lesser Antilles ? sit atop the Caribbean Plate, a tectonic plate with a diffuse topography. The islands of Aruba, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago sit on the northerly South American continental shelf. The Netherlands Antilles and the federal dependencies of Venezuela lie along the northerly South American. Geopolitically, the island states and overseas territories of the Caribbean are generally grouped as a part or subregion of 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. Other islands are the Galápagos, Easter Island (in Oceania but belongs to Chile), Robinson Crusoe Island, Chiloé Island, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands.

South America is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela, the largest river, the Amazon River, the longest mountain range, the Andes (whose highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962 m (22,841 ft)), the driest desert, the Atacama Desert, the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest, the highest railroad, Ticlio Peru, the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia, the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca, and the world's southernmost town, Puerto Toro, Chile.

South America's major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and oil. The many resources of South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies. The inevitable fluctuation in the price of commodities in the international markets has led historically to major highs and lows in the economies of South American states, often also causing extreme political instability. This is leading to efforts to diversify their production to drive them away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export.

South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicu?a, 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 Brazil.

Regions: Amazonia, The Pantanal, The Andes, Tierra del Fuego
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