South America is one of the seven continents that happens to be in the Western Hemisphere. It has most of its part in Western Hemisphere and a few parts of it are there in the southern subregion as well which is a single continent called America.

Countries in South America

South America has its borders on the west with the Pacific Ocean and has the Atlantic Ocean on its north and east. Moreover, North America and the Caribbean Sea area in the northwest. South America has twelve sovereign states which are

  1. Argentina
  2. Bolivia
  3. Brazil
  4. Chile
  5. Colombia
  6. Ecuador
  7. Guyana
  8. Paraguay
  9. Peru
  10. Suriname
  11. Uruguay
  12. Venezuela

It further has two dependent territories

  1. Falkland Islands
  2. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

And one of these is an internal territory

  1. French Guiana

Additionally, ABC Islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ascension Island, Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory), Bouvet Island (dependent on Norway), Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago are also considered parts of South America.

Area

The area that South America is covering is around 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq. mi). The population of this continent was recorded at 423 million as per the calculations in 2018. South America is at 4th number after Asia,

Africa, and North America. As for the population, it comes the fifth number after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Brazil however is by far the most populous country which shares half of the total population of the continent.

Moreover, Brazil gets the credit for generating half of the continent’s GDP, and it has become the first regional power.

Languages

When it comes to the languages, Spanish and Portuguese are two of the most spoken languages which are commonly spoken in South America with more than 200 million speakers each. Spanish is an official language of the majority of the countries, along with other native languages in a few countries.

The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. Dutch is the official language of Suriname. English is also the official language of Guyana. However, there are more than twelve other languages that people speak in this country including Chinese, Hindustani, Portuguese, and many other native languages.

English is also common there in the Falkland Islands. French is the official language of French Guiana, and it is the second language in Amapa, Brazil.

South America’s indigenous languages include Quechua in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia, and Venezuela’s northwestern part. Other languages which are common in South America include Hindustani and Javanese in Suriname, Italian in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, and German is also spoken in a few particular pockets of Argentina and Brazil.

Religion

90% of South Americans are Christians. 82% of them are Roman Catholic, and 8% of other Christian denominations are mainly traditional protestants but are also Orthodox. African descendent religions and indigenous religions are also common throughout South America. Some examples of these are Santo Daime, Candomble, Umbanda and Encantados.

Moreover, crypto Jews or Marranos, conversos, and Anusim are also integral parts of colonial life in Latin America. Buenos Airs, Argentina, and Sao Paulo are the largest Jewish population in the urban areas.

Besides that, east Asian regions such as Shintoism, Japanese Buddhism, and Shinto deprived Japanese New religions are popular in Brazil and Peru. Chinese Buddhism and Chinese Confucianism are all over there on the continent. Korean Confucianism is commonly there in Brazil.

Many countries in South America have Kardecist Spiritism. 22% of Suriname and 25% of the Guyanese population is Hindus. There are 6.8% Guyanese population is Muslim and 13.9 Suriname population. Most of the Muslims in Suriname are either Indians or Javanese. However, most of these are Indian.

Economy

South America is less dependent on exports in terms of both manufactured goods and natural resources as compared to the world average. The exports by-merchandise from the continent are around 16% of GDP, and this is practiced on an exchange rate basis.

Brazil is the world’s seventh-largest economy and the largest economy in South America. It leads in merchandise exports at around $251 billion, followed by Venezuela at $93 billion and Chile stands at $86 billion, and Argentina at $84 billion.

The continent of South America has witnessed a remarkable rise and growth, with diversification in almost all the economic sectors. Agricultural and livestock products are also destined for the domestic market and local consumption additionally.

It is also worth mentioning that the export of agricultural products is mandatory for the balance of trade in the majority of the countries. Soy and wheat are the major export crops. Staple food such as vegetables, corn, or beans is produced at a large level focusing on domestic consumption.

Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Colombia produce most of the livestock including meat export. Tropical regions are popular for producing coffee, cocoa, and bananas, especially in Columbia, Brazil, and Ecuador. Peru, Huyana, Suriname, and Brazil produce sugar and export it. Also, sugar cane is used to make ethanol in Brazil.

Culture

The culture of South Americans is quite rich. South Americans have the influence of indigenous people. They have their historic connection with the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. South Americans enjoy a rich variety of music. A few popular genres include vallenato and cumbia from Columbia.

Moreover, they have pasillo from Columbia and Ecuador, samba, bossa nova, and musica sertaneja from Brazil. It further includes joropo from Venezuela and tango from Argentina and Uruguay. Additionally, the non-commercial folk genre Nueva Cancion movement is also well known there in Argentina and Chile.

Sports

South America is home to many popular sports. Football is the most popular one, with baseball mostly played in Venezuela. Many other important sports include basketball, cycling, polo, volleyball, motorsports, rugby, futsal, handball, tennis, golf, field hockey, boxing, and cricket. Rugby is mainly played in Argentina and Uruguay.

South America was the host for the first time in 2016 when the Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Moreover, the Youth Olympic Games were also hosted in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2018.

South America holds the credit of sharing the Europe supremacy over the sport of football as winners in FIFA World Cup history and all the winning teams of FIFA Club World Cup came from these two continents, i.e, Europe and South America.

Conclusion

There are almost 17 countries in the continent of South America. It is one of the important continents of the world. Brazil is an important economy in South America. Its culture has There is an influence of indigenous people on the culture of South America. Football and baseball are very popular in different countries

this continent. Most of the economy stands on heavy exports from different states.