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A region is an area of the world grouped together because of shared characteristics. The Americas are made up of four regions: North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. South America is the southernmost region of the Americas.
How big is South America?
South America has an area of almost 7 million square miles. This makes South America the fourth-largest continent in the world after Asia, Africa, and North America.
South America is made up of 12 countries and 1 territory, or an area of land that is controlled by another country. Together they are home to more than 420 million people and many different languages. Look at the table of each country's official language.
Why do most people in South America speak Spanish and Portuguese?
The Spanish and Portuguese (por-chuh-GEEZ) empires colonized most of South America during the Age of Exploration. These European powers controlled South America for hundreds of years. During that time, Europeans forced native people to speak European languages. As a result, today most South American people speak Spanish or Portuguese.
Do people speak non-European languages in South America?
Yes! There are more than 600 known indigenous (in-DIJ-uh-nuhs), or native, languages spoken across South America. Two of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in this part of the world are Quechua (keh-CHOO-wah) and Guarani.
Over 80% of all the people in South America live in cities.
The map below shows the location of the five biggest cities in South America, and the graph shows each city's population. Look at the map and graph.
What do cities in South America look like?
Large cities in South America can look very different from one another. Below are pictures of São Paulo and Bogotá, two of the most populated cities in the region. Can you spot some of the differences between the cities?
A city hidden by forest
People in South America have built thriving cities in all kinds of environments, not just by rivers, oceans, and mountains. The city of Manaus in Brazil, which has a population of more than 2 million people, is located in the middle of the world's largest rainforest! The rainforest makes it challenging to travel to the city. The best way to get to Manaus is by boat or by plane.
South America has many different climates. Climate is the pattern of weather in a certain place over a long period of time. One factor that affects climate in South America is elevation, or the distance of a place above sea level. Places with different elevations experience different types of climate:
Areas closer to sea level, or areas of low elevation, tend to be warm and humid.
Areas higher above sea level, or areas of high elevation, tend to be colder.
House of the gods
The Andes aren't the only high-elevation part of South America! South America is home to a unique type of mountain called a tepui. Tepuis are isolated tabletop mountains found in parts of Guyana and Venezuela. Tepuis are some of the oldest rock formations in the world, and they are home to many species of plants and animals that can only be found there! In the indigenous language of the Pemon people, tepui means "house of the gods."
Another factor that affects the climates in South America is latitude, or a place's position in relation to the equator. The passage explains how latitude affects climate.
Areas of South America that are near the equator often have a warm and humid climate. It is common for these areas to experience only a rainy and a dry season. These activities happen near the equator:
Areas of South America that are south of the Tropic of Capricorn experience four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These activities happen south of the Tropic of Capricorn:
South America is home to many different climate zones.
Climate zones are areas of the world that have similar average temperatures and rainfalls. Climate zones affect what people can grow in different areas of the world. The map below shows the different climate zones and countries of South America. The table shows some crops that tend to be found in those climate zones.
How do people in South America use their resources?
People have been coming up with new ways of using resources for thousands of years! Sugarcane, for example, is commonly found and grown in South America that people have learned to use in many different ways:
The dry pulp from sugarcane can be burned to create electricity.
Sugarcane can be refined to create ethanol, which is used to fuel cars.
Sugarcane can be pressed into a sweet and refreshing juice that is popular in parts of South America.
Because different parts of South America are able to grow different crops, South American countries have to trade with each other. Countries in South America export or send out goods and resources that they can easily produce. Countries also import or bring in goods and resources that are difficult for them to produce.
Coffee is one of the many crops traded in South America. The table below shows the percentage of imports and exports that each country contributed to the total coffee traded in South America.
If Brazil exports the most coffee, why do they still import so much?
Often, countries that specialize in producing certain crops, the way Brazil specializes in coffee, still import those crops from other places. This can happen for a few reasons:
People in other countries might pay more for Brazilian coffee than people in Brazil will pay. This encourages Brazilian coffee farmers to only sell to buyers outside the country, while imported coffee is sold to Brazilians.
People in Brazil also might want more variety in the types of coffee they buy! Consumers often like to have lots of options for the products they buy.
Changes in the environment can also be a factor!
Between 2016 and 2017, environmental changes were a major factor in Brazilian coffee exports and imports. Those years, parts of the country experienced severe droughts that made coffee production more difficult. So, Brazil had to import more coffee to make up for the coffee that was lost to the drought. But even with the drought, Brazil was still the biggest coffee producer in South America!
Trade affects people all over South America, and South American countries work together to make trade between them easier. One of the ways they work together is by creating international organizations, or organizations that bring representatives from different countries together to solve common problems. Read the objectives of MERCOSUR, an international organization of many South American countries.
Do countries from different parts of the world collaborate with each other?
Yes! Countries don't have to be on the same continent to build relationships with each other. For example, in 2011 the presidents of Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico came together to create a partnership called the Pacific Alliance. The goal of this partnership is to improve trade and diplomatic relationships between countries. Today, the Pacific Alliance also includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Goods and information are not the only things that move between countries. People also move! The process of moving from one country to another is called migration. People decide to migrate for many different reasons. Some of these reasons are push factors, or bad things that make people want to leave their country. Other reasons are pull factors, or good things that attract people to new countries.
Migrating without crossing borders
People don't need to move to a different country to migrate. Some countries have a high percentage of internal migration, or movement of people from one area of a country to another. For example, Colombia has a high rate of internal migration.
Each country in South America has a government that creates laws about trade and migration. All of the governments are democracies, or governments where power is shared by all citizens. But not all democracies are the same.
Read about the two most common forms of democratic government found in South America.
According to the table above, in a unitary system only the central government can pass laws. The following statement describes a unitary system:
In Ecuador, only the central government can pass a law that raises people's taxes. Only the central government can pass tax laws, so this is an example of a unitary system.
According to the table, in a federal system the central government and the states can pass laws. The following statements describe federal systems:
A state in Brazil passed a law that forbids people in their state from cutting down Brazil nut trees. This is an example of a state passing its own laws. So, this shows a federal system.
States in Venezuela can pass laws to reduce the price of oil in their state. This is an example of a state passing its own laws. So, this shows a federal system.
South America is the southernmost region of the Americas. The two most commonly spoken languages in South America are Spanish and Portuguese. Most people in South America live in cities, which are often near big bodies of water. Different climates in South America affect the types of goods that different countries are able to produce. As a result, governments and international organizations help countries to trade with each other so that every country can get the resources it needs.
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