January 25, 2020

South America

Map of South America



South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometres (6,890,000 sq mi). Its population as of 2018 has been estimated at more than 423 million. South America ranks fourth in area (after AsiaAfrica, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America). Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half of the continent’s population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru.


South America is home to the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfallAngel Falls in Venezuela; the highest single-drop waterfall Kaieteur Falls in Guyana; the largest river by volume, the Amazon River; the longest mountain range, the Andes (whose highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962 m or 22,841 ft); the driest non-polar place on earth, the Atacama Desert; the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest; the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia; the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca; and, excluding research stations in Antarctica, the world’s southernmost permanently inhabited community, Puerto Toro, Chile.