South America- a continent crossed by the equator, with an area of ​​​​18.13 million km², most of which is located in the southern hemisphere. South America is located between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. She was connected with North America most recently (in a geological sense) during the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. The Andes, a relatively young and seismically unstable mountain range, stretches along western border continent; the lands to the east of the Andes are occupied mainly by tropical forests, the vast basin of the Amazon River.

South America ranks fourth in area, after Eurasia, Africa and North America. It ranks fifth in terms of population, after Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

It is believed that human settlement occurred through the Bering Isthmus, now the Bering Strait, and there is also an assumption about migration from the South Pacific.

From the 1530s local population South America was enslaved by European invaders, first from Spain, later from Portugal, who divided it into colonies. AT during XIX century, these colonies gained independence.

South America also includes various islands, most of which belong to the countries of the continent. Caribbean territories belong to North America. South American countries that border by the caribbean- including Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana - are known as Caribbean South America.

The most big country in South America by area and population - Brazil. The regions of South America include the Andean States, the Guyanese Highlands, the Southern Cone and Eastern South America.

Climate

Climate for the most part subequatorial and tropical, in the Amazon - equatorial, constantly humid, in the south - subtropical and temperate. The entire northern plain part of South America up to the southern tropic has average monthly temperatures of 20-28 °C. In summer, they decrease to the south to 10 ° C, in winter on the Brazilian plateau to 12 ° C, in Pampa to 6 ° C, on the Patagonian plateau to 1 ° C and below. The largest number precipitation per year is received by the windward slopes of the Andes in Colombia and South of Chile, Western Amazonia and the adjacent slopes of the Andes, eastern slopes Guiana and Brazilian plateaus, in the rest of the east up to 35 °S. sh. falls annually 1-2 thousand mm. Arid areas west of the Pampas, Patagonia, south Center. Andes and especially the Pacific slope between 5-27 °S. sh.

natural areas

Equatorial forests (selva) are located on both sides of the equator, occupying almost the entire Amazonian lowland, the slopes of the Andes and the north of the Pacific coast.

Along the Atlantic coast, wet rainforests close to a typical hylaea. The soils are red ferralitic. Trees reach 80 m (ceiba), melon tree, cocoa, rubber hevea grow. The plants are entwined with vines, there are many orchids, in the Amazon - Victoria regia.

Animal world associated with numerous arboreal layers, there are few terrestrial animals. By the water - tapir, capybara, gavial crocodiles in the rivers, in the crowns - howler monkeys, sloths, from birds - macaw parrots, toucans, hummingbirds, boas, including anaconda, are characteristic. There is an anteater, from predatory - jaguar, puma, ocelot.

The savannahs occupy the Orinok Lowland and most Guiana and Brazilian highlands. The soils are red ferralitic and red-brown. In the northern hemisphere, among the tall grasses (llanos), there are tree-like spurges, cacti, mimosa, bottle trees. In the south (campos) it is much drier, there are more cacti. There are no large ungulates, but there are peccaries, armadillos, anteaters, rhea ostriches, cougars, and jaguars.

The steppes of South America (pampas) have fertile reddish-black soils, cereals predominate. Typical are fast pampas deer, pampas cat, several types of llamas, and rhea ostriches.

Deserts and semi-deserts are located in temperate zone in Patagonia. The soils are brown and gray-brown, dry grasses, cushion-shaped shrubs. The animal world is similar to the pampas (nutria, small armadillos).

Areas altitudinal zonality. The most complete set of belts around the equator.

On the mainland, there are two major region- East and Andes. In the East, the Amazon, the Brazilian Highlands, the Orinoco plains, and Patagonia are distinguished.

Inland waters

Rivers have huge river systems. The food is rain, most of the rivers belong to the Atlantic Ocean basin.

Discovery history

Europeans became reliably aware of the existence of South America after the voyage of Columbus in 1498, who discovered the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, explored the coastline from the Orinoco River Delta to the Paria Peninsula. In the 15-16 centuries. The greatest contribution to the exploration of the continent was made by Spanish expeditions. In 1499-1500, the Spanish conquistador Ojeda led an expedition to the northern coast of South America, which reached the coast in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Guiana and, following in northwest direction, surveyed the coast from 5-6 ° S. sh. to the Gulf of Venezuela. Later, Ojeda explored the northern coast of Colombia and founded a fortress there, initiating Spanish conquests on this continent. The survey of the northern coast of South America was completed by the Spanish traveler Bastidas, who in 1501 explored the mouth of the Magdalena River and reached the Gulf of Uraba. Expeditions of Pinson and Lepe, continuing to move south along Atlantic coast South America, in 1500 they discovered one of the branches of the Amazon delta, explored the Brazilian coast to 10 ° S. sh. Solis moved further south (up to 35°S) and discovered La Plata Bay, the lower reaches of the major rivers Uruguay and Parana. In 1520, Magellan explored the Patagonian coast, then passed into the Pacific Ocean through the strait, later named after him, completing the study of the Atlantic coast.

In 1522-58. explored the Pacific coast of South America. Pizarro walked along the coast of the Pacific Ocean to 8 ° S. sh., in 1531-33. he conquered Peru, plundering and destroying the Inca state and founding the City of the Kings (later called Lima). Later - in 1535-52. - The Spanish conquistadors Almagro and Valdivia descended along the coast to 40 ° S. sh.

Exploration of inland regions was stimulated by legends about a hypothetical "country of gold" - Eldorado, in search of which the Spanish expeditions of Ordaz, Heredia and others in 1529-46 crossed into different directions The northwestern Andes traced the course of many rivers. The agents of the German bankers Ehinger, Federman and others surveyed mainly the northeast of the continent, the upper reaches of the Orinoco River. In 1541, Orellana's detachment crossed the mainland for the first time in its widest part, tracing the middle and lower reaches of the Amazon River; Cabot, Mendoza and others in 1527-48 passed through major rivers Parana Basin - Paraguay.

extreme south point continent - Cape Horn - was discovered by the Dutch navigators Lemaire and Schouten in 1616. English navigator Davis in 1592 discovered the "Earth of the Maiden", suggesting that it is a single land; only in 1690 Strong proved that it consists of many islands and gave them the name Falkland Islands.

In the 16-18 centuries. detachments of the Portuguese mestizo-Mamiluks, who committed aggressive campaigns in search of gold and jewelry, they repeatedly crossed the Brazilian Plateau and traced the course of many tributaries of the Amazon. Jesuit missionaries also took part in the study of these areas.

To test the hypothesis of the spheroidal shape of the Earth, the Paris Academy of Sciences sent an Equatorial Expedition to Peru in 1736-43 to measure the meridian arc, led by Bouguer and Condamine, which confirmed the validity of this assumption. In 1781-1801 the Spanish topographer Asara carried out comprehensive research the Gulf of La Plata, as well as the basins of the Parana and Paraguay rivers. Humboldt explored the Orinoco river basin, the plateau of Quito, visited the city of Lima, presenting the results of his research in the book Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World in 1799-1804. The English hydrographer and meteorologist Fitzroy in 1828-30 (on the expedition of F. King) completed a survey south coast South America, and later led the famous world tour on the ship "Beagle", in which Darwin also took part. The Amazon and the Brazilian Plateau adjacent to it from the south were explored by the German scientist Eschwege (1811-14), the French biologist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1816-22), the Russian expedition led by Langsdorf (1822-28), the English naturalist A. Wallace (1848- 52), French scientist Coudros (1895-98). German and French scientists studied the Orinoco River basin and the Guiana Plateau, American and Argentinean - the lower reaches of the Parana and Uruguay rivers in the La Plata region. Into the exploration of this continent huge contribution introduced by Russian scientists Albov, who in 1895-96 studied Tierra del Fuego, Manizer (1914-15), Vavilov (1930, 1932-33).

South America is an amazing continent that hides a lot of interesting and unusual things. After all, it is here that the mysterious Mexican pyramids, the unique Amazon River and the hottest deserts in the world are located. Do you know the area of ​​South America? Today we will tell you all about this continent and its size.

South America: geographical location and brief description

South America is the fourth largest continent in the world, one part of it lies in the southern hemisphere, and the other in the northern hemisphere. The huge area of ​​South America has always attracted here a large number of people from all over the globe, this brought the continent to the fifth place in the world in terms of population. We can say that almost every seventh person on Earth lives here. The mainland is washed by two oceans - the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Features of South America

The geographical position of the continent contributed to the fact that indigenous people developed here separately and by the time the Europeans arrived it had its own unique culture, in no way connected with mainland civilizations. Of course, part of the precious heritage of the South American Indians was destroyed by ruthless conquerors. But what remained untouched is still being closely studied by the world scientific community.

Thanks to the discovery of South America, the world learned what tobacco, coca leaves and corn are. Many species of animals and plants living on this continent are endemic.

Natural areas of South America

The South American continent is generous to the people who inhabit it. The area of ​​natural zones of South America includes all the diversity of our planet, spread over vast territory one continent:

• equatorial forests;
• tropical monsoon forests;
• savannas;
• pampas;
• tropical deserts;
• steppe;
• semi-deserts.

Each natural area has preserved rare species flora and fauna that are not found anywhere else on the planet. This makes the mainland unique, scientists have been saying for many years that most of the land on the continent must be transferred to the status of a reserve and carefully protected from destructive human activities.

Equatorial forests - the "lungs" of our planet

Of all natural areas continent, I would like to talk in more detail about the selva, or equatorial forests. No wonder scientists call them the "lungs" of our planet, because more than 80% of oxygen is released into the atmosphere by plants growing in the selva.

Unfortunately for recent decades area equatorial forests significantly reduced due to human activities. Now South America is the third country in the world where the selva is still preserved in its original form. More than 33% of rain forests grow in Brazil.

Environmentalists are sounding the alarm in connection with the reduction in the area of ​​the selva, because it total annihilation lead to serious changes in the composition of the air on the planet. Perhaps these changes will become irreversible and lead to massive epidemics among people.

Many people form an opinion about the size of the continent only when they see the real numbers in which its area is measured. So, the total area of ​​mainland South America, including its main islands, is 18,280,000 square kilometers. The area of ​​all islands is equal to 150,000 square kilometers. The following islands are included in the continent:

• Malvinsky;
• Tobago;
• Trinidad;
• Galapogos;
• Chonos archipelago;
• archipelago Tierra del Fuego.

Keep in mind that the area of ​​South America is almost always measured along with its islands. Some sources immediately indicate that the islands belong to various South American countries.

South American countries

On average, the area of ​​South America is divided between 12 large countries, which are located in territories of ambiguous size:

• Brazil.
• Argentina.
• Peru.
• Colombia.
• Bolivia.
• Venezuela.
• Chile.
• Paraguay.
• Ecuador.
• Guyana.
• Uruguay.
• Suriname.

The countries of South America occupy more than 13% of the land on the planet by area.

General characteristics of the countries of South America

Of course, each of the countries on the continent has its own special characteristics, but something in common between them still exists. First of all, this economic development, all twelve largest countries can be classified as developing. Their economy is just starting to new level, and the main activity is Agriculture. Surprisingly, European intervention in the history of the development of Latin American peoples significantly affected the language base of the population. Spanish is recognized as the main language on the continent, it is spoken by residents of nine countries out of twelve.

What is the area of ​​the largest country in South America?

most major country Brazil is considered to be on the mainland, its area is approximately 8,500,000 square kilometers. It is worth saying that Brazil is also the most populous country on the continent, its population exceeds 200,000,000 people.

Brazil ranks fifth in the world in terms of territory and population. Many analysts explain this as a kind of "law of the soil", which allows a child born in the country to acquire Brazilian citizenship, regardless of the citizenship of his parents.

You can talk about the continent of South America for an infinitely long time, because everything here is surprisingly unusual and so unlike what Europeans are used to seeing around them. No wonder the navigators who discovered America called it a real "wonder of the world."

South America is the fourth largest continent belonging to the group southern continents: the map shows that most of it is located in the southern hemisphere, and only a small region of it is in the northern hemisphere. On the total area 17,800 sq. km there are 12 countries of South America, as well as 3 independent territories, and each of the countries has its own official language, flag, currency, culture and customs. Let us consider in more detail which states are part of South America.

general characteristics

South America is characterized by an amazing diversity and indescribable flavor of absolutely all countries located on the continent.

Before the conquest of the mainland in the 16th century by the Spanish conquerors, Indians lived here. After a while, the Portuguese and Spaniards brought Africans to the continent as a labor force. Subsequently, many regions of South America were settled by immigrants from Western and of Eastern Europe. Despite the great differences in culture, religion and general way of life different nations live on common territory surprisingly calm, without serious conflicts.

Rice. 1. The population of South America

By race the entire population of the mainland can be divided into three main types:

• Indians;
• Europeans;
• black people.

In Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay and Ecuador, the local population is mostly represented by mestizos - descendants of Indians and Europeans. In Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia, there are quite a lot of representatives negroid race, and in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina - the advantage for the Europeans. And only in Peru and Bolivia, the indigenous people of South America form the majority.

The most widely spoken languages ​​are Spanish and Portuguese. However, the population of South America is so diverse and many-sided that one can hear English, French, German, Italian speech here - these foreign languages ​​are the most popular and they are taught at school. Russian is spoken only by tourists and immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union. Often on the streets you can hear the colorful speech of the native Indians: Aymara, Quechua, Guara, Araucan.

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Rice. 2. South America on the map

Table “List of South American countries and their capitals”

The name of the country	Capital	Language	Currency	Areas of South American countries, sq. km
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Spanish	Argentine peso	2 766 890
Bolivia	La Paz, Sucre	Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani and 33 other languages	Boliviano	1 098 581
Brazil	Brasilia	Portuguese	Brazilian Real	8 514 877
Venezuela	Caracas	Spanish	Venezuelan bolivar	916 445
Guyana	Georgetown	English	Guyanese dollar	214 970
Colombia	Santa Fe de Bogota	Spanish	Colombian peso	1 138 910
Paraguay	Asuncion	Spanish, Guarani	Paraguayan Guarani	406 752
Peru	Lima	Spanish, Quechua	New salt	1 285 220
Suriname	Paramaribo	Dutch	Suriname dollar	163 270
Uruguay	Montevideo	Spanish	Uruguayan peso	176 220
Chile	Santiago	Spanish	Chilean peso	756 950
Ecuador	Quito	Spanish	U.S. dollar	283 560
Dependencies
french guiana	cayenne	French	Euro	86 504
Falkland Islands	Stanley	English	Falkland Islands pound	12,173
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	Grytviken	English	GBP	3 093

Brief overview of the countries of South America

Each country of the continent has its own characteristics.

• Brazil It is the largest country in terms of area and population. Known throughout the world for its first-class beaches and carnivals in Rio de Janeiro.

Rice. 3. Carnival in Rio de Janeiro

• Argentina - notable for its capital Buenos Aires, which annually hosts the famous carnival procession.
• Bolivia - Sucre is officially considered the capital of the country, but the local government prefers the largest and beautiful city in Bolivia, La Paz.
• Venezuela - a country in which the north comes into its possession. On the outskirts of Caracas is located national park with untouched tropical nature.
• Guyana - This is a country of constantly wet jungle. Up to 90% of the territory of Guyana is occupied by dense forests.
• Guiana - despite the fact that this is the territory of South America, however, it is impossible to get into this French region without a visa.
• Colombia - is different large quantity museums, which contain the richest cultural and historical heritage. This country is a symbiosis of two cultures - Indian and European.
• Paraguay - a country that does not have its own access to the sea. In the capital - Asuncion - there are many original architectural monuments.
• Peru – Mountain country located in the Andes west coast. She is full of mysteries and amazing stories, because it was here that the Inca civilization once developed.
• Suriname - most small state South America, which has preserved a unique colonial style.
• Uruguay - the country is famous, first of all, thanks to its traditional carnival, which is in no way inferior to the Argentinean in its significance and scope.
• Chile the country is located in a very picturesque place, along the Pacific coast, partly in highlands Andes.
• Ecuador - an equatorial country in which monuments have been preserved ancient culture, museums.

South America - southern continent in America, located mainly in Western and southern hemispheres planet Earth, however, part of the continent is located in the Northern Hemisphere. It is washed in the west by the Pacific Ocean, in the east by the Atlantic, from the north it is limited by North America, the border between the Americas runs along the Isthmus of Panama and the Caribbean Sea.

South America also includes various islands , most of which belong to the countries of the continent. Caribbean territories belong toNorth America. South American countries that border the Caribbean - including Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and french guiana- known as Caribbean South America.

The area of ​​the continent is 17.8 million km² (4th place among continents), the population is 385,742,554 people (4th place among continents).

The length from north to south is (approximately) 7350 km. Length from west to east - (approximately) 4900 km

Languages

The most widely spoken languages ​​in South America are Portuguese and Spanish . On the Portuguese He speaks Brazil , whose population is about 50% of the population of this continent. Spanish is official language most of the countries on this continent. Also in South America they speak other languages: in Suriname they speak Dutch, in Guyana - in English, and in French Guiana - respectively in French. You can often hearindigenous languages ​​of the Indians: Quechua (Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru), Guarani (Paraguay and Bolivia), Aymara (Bolivia and Peru) and Araucanian(South of Chile and Argentina). All of them (except the last one) have official status in their countries. language area. Since a significant proportion of the population of South America are immigrants from Europe, many of them still retain their own language, the most common of which are Italian and German languages in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela and Chile. The most popular students foreign languages in South American countries are English, French, German and Italian.

Climatic zones

There are 5 climate zones in South America:subequatorial belt(2 times), equatorial belt, Tropical Belt , subtropical belt and the temperate zone.

Hydrography

The most important river systems in South America are Amazon, Orinoco and Parana , whose total basin is 9,583,000 km² (the area of ​​South America is 17,850,568 km²). Most of the lakes in South America are located in Andes , the largest of which and the highest navigable lake in the world is Titicaca , on the border of Bolivia and Peru. The largest lake is maracaibo in Venezuela, it is also one of the oldest on the planet.

South America has the highest waterfall in the world - Angel . The most powerful waterfall is located on the mainland - Iguazu.

South America is the wettest continent Earth.








Minerals

The bowels of South America contain a very diverse complex of minerals. The largest deposits iron ore confined to the ancient Precambrian of Venezuela (Orinoco river basin) and Brazil (Minas Gerais state), the richest deposits of porphyry copper ores - to granitoid batholiths Central Andes. Ore deposits rare elements associated with the ultramafic alkaline intrusions of Eastern Brazil. On the territory of Bolivia, deposits of ores of tin, antimony, silver, etc., have been found. The forward and intermountain troughs of the Andes contain deposits of oil and gas along their entire length, which are especially rich within Venezuela. There are coal deposits; deposits hard coal known in the Upper Paleozoic, brown - in the Cenozoic. Bauxite deposits are confined to the young weathering crust (especially in Guyana and Suriname).

Animal and Plant World

The natural world of South America is one of the richest on the planet. At least 44,000 can be found in the Amazon Basin different types plants, 2.500 species river fish and 1,500 species of birds. The jungle is home to huge spiders that feed on birds, and mammals such as armadillos and sloths. The rivers of South America are home to sea cows, freshwater dolphins, giant catfish and electric eels. Thousands of species of forest insects have not yet been studied.
Alnacas and vicuñas from the camelid family are found in the Andes. The steppes of Pamna are inhabited by a large running nandu bird, or the American ostrich. In colder areas on the southern fringes of the continent, penguins and seals are common. On the Galapagos Islands, lying in the Pacific Ocean west of the coast of Ecuador, there are such rare representatives of the animal world as the famous giant tortoises.
Fertile soils nourish the rich vegetable world continent. South America is the birthplace of prickly araucaria, rubber, potatoes and many domestic plants (for example, monstera).
The nature of South America is under threat of destruction. As people cut down forests, many species of forest animals and priceless plants that have not adapted to new living conditions disappear without a trace..

Of course, South America is just another world. It doesn't look like Europe or Asia. There are places here, getting into which, you think that you are on another planet. I am glad that last year I discovered this incredible continent, I will try very hard to fly here again this summer.

Where to find South America

This continent is located in Western hemisphere our planet. The vast majority of South America is located just south of the equator.

The mainland is strongly elongated from north to south. A little over 420 million people live here. I will list the three largest countries (by area) that are located here:

• Brazil;
• Argentina;
• Peru.

But for the population, the situation is slightly different. The first place is occupied by the same Brazil, the second - by Colombia, and the third - by Argentina.

This continent is washed by the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But in the northern part of South America is the only sea - the Caribbean. It is connected to its neighbor North America by the Isthmus of Panama.

The largest country on the continent

As I wrote above, this is Brazil. The territory of this state is 8.5 million square kilometers. About this wonderful country you can only speak with a breath. The most popular attraction for tourists is, of course, the local carnival. It takes place in all cities of the country.

Since 1960, the capital of the state has been the city of Brasilia. It's unique locality in every sense of the word. It is simply impossible not to mention the fact that it was he who became the first city on our planet, which was taken under the protection of UNESCO itself.

A visa is not required here if your stay in this country does not exceed 90 days. But for renting a car you will need not only international law but also a credit card. Banks in this state work only from Monday to Friday. As a souvenir, you can bring from here, for example, a hammock or lace. Tipping in establishments Catering here it is customary to leave up to 10% of the invoice amount.