Close-up of a Continent

Abstract

The name of South America is given to the southern part of the Americas region. It is an area of relatively low population density (14 people per square kilometer) with an area of about 18,000,000 square kilometers and 253 million population, geographically located between the parallels northern 10° and southern 53°. According to the Pan American Health Organization,¹ for a better understanding, it is advisable to separate the so-called “Tropical South America” and the “Temperate South America.” Tropical South America (Tr SA) includes the countries of Brazil (123 million population), which roughly represents one-half of all South America, Colombia (31 million), Peru (20 million), Venezuela (16 million), Ecuador (9 million), Bolivia (6 million), Paraguay (3 million), Guyana, Surinam, and French Guyana, with less than one million population. Temperate South America (Te SA) includes Argentina (29 million), Chile (12 million), Uruguay (3 million)) and the British territory of the Falkland Islands, with only a few thousand people. Besides the differences in climate and geographical location, further reasons to separate Tr SA and Te SA are the significantly higher level of development of the Te SA, also called the Southern Cone of America, referring to the triangular shape of the southernmost part of America.