Economy of South America centuries. This can be explained by South America´s high concentration on primary commodities as well as the state of the educational system and institutional structure, some of which are still related to its colonial past, others to recent political developments. It was only from the 1990s when countries in South America switched over to the system of Free-Market economy. This eventually pulled countries in South America out of the debt crisis. Now, major economic activities include agriculture, industry, forestry, and mining. In 2016, four countries, which include Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and República Bolivariana de Venezuela experienced decline in output. Other
History of South America the continent of North America via the Panama Block that closed the marine Bolivar Trough, leading to the Great American Interchange, the interchange of biota from both continents. The first species discovered to have made the northward migration was "Pliometanastes", a fossil ground sloth species, roughly the size of a modern black bear. Several migrations to the Southern Hemisphere were undertaken by tougher, North American mammal carnivores; fewer species migrated in the opposite direction from south to north. The result of the intrusion of North American fauna was that hundreds of South American species became extinct in a relatively short