22 Facts About South America

1.

South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere.

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2.

South America is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest.

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3.

The geography of western South America is dominated by the Andes mountains; in contrast, the eastern part contains both highland regions and vast lowlands where rivers such as the Amazon, Orinoco and Parana flow.

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4.

These resources found in South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth by industrialized countries elsewhere.

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5.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, covering a little less than half of the continent's land area and encompassing around half of the continent's population.

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6.

South America is home to many unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuna, and tapir.

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7.

South America is thought to have been first inhabited by humans when people were crossing the Bering Land Bridge at least 15, 000 years ago from the territory that is present-day Russia.

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8.

Many native artworks were considered pagan idols and destroyed by Spanish explorers; this included many gold and silver sculptures and other artifacts found in South America, which were melted down before their transport to Spain or Portugal.

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9.

Independence of South America was secured by Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin (Argentina), the two most important Libertadores.

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10.

South America organized a fleet to reach Peru by sea, and sought the military support of various rebels from the Viceroyalty of Peru.

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11.

Indigenous languages of South America include Quechua in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia; Wayuunaiki in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela (Zulia); Guarani in Paraguay and, to a much lesser extent, in Bolivia; Aymara in Bolivia, Peru, and less often in Chile; and Mapudungun is spoken in certain pockets of southern Chile.

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12.

South America is home to one of the largest populations of Africans.

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13.

Brazil followed by Peru have the largest Japanese, Korean and Chinese communities in South America, Lima has the largest ethnic Chinese community in Latin America.

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14.

South America has been witness to the growth of megapolitan areas.

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15.

Industries in South America began to take on the economies of the region from the 1930s when the Great Depression in the United States and other countries of the world boosted industrial production in the continent.

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16.

Literature of South America has attracted considerable critical and popular acclaim, especially with the Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez in novels and Jorge Luis Borges and Pablo Neruda in other genres.

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17.

Artist Oswaldo Guayasamin from Ecuador, represented with his painting style the feeling of the peoples of Latin South America highlighting social injustices in various parts of the world.

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18.

South America hosted its first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016, and has hosted the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018.

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19.

South America is home to the longest-running international football tournament, the Copa America, which has been contested since 1916.

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20.

The South America Region owns the Itaipu Dam, which was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world for several years, until the inauguration of Three Gorges Dam in China.

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21.

Transport in South America is basically carried out using the road mode, the most developed in the region.

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22.

The 15 busiest ports in South America are: Port of Santos, Port of Bahia de Cartagena (Colombia), Callao (Peru), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Buenos Aires (Argentina), San Antonio (Chile), Buenaventura (Colombia), Itajai, Valparaiso (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay), Paranagua, Rio Grande, Sao Francisco do Sul, Manaus and Coronel (Chile).

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