Mother Nature: South America

Land Area of South America: 6,888,000 (mi²) / 15,539,928 (km²)
Population of South America: 414,332,000 (2015)
Largest City in South America: São Paulo, Brazil (21,090,791 (2014))

The South American continent is the southern portion of the larger American continent and located in the southern hemisphere. The equator passes through the continent offering a tropical climate for much of the landmass with temperate conditions possible in the south. South America is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the western border and the Atlantic Ocean on its eastern border. This continent is the fourth largest of the 7 continents and is made up of twelve countries with Brazil being the largest in terms of both land mass and population.

South America is home to incredible biodiversity. South America includes the Andes Mountains which comprise the longest range of peaks in the world. It is home to the Amazon River, which passes the largest volume of water of any river in the world. You can also find the Amazon rainforest which is the world’s largest rainforest and is host to some of the most unique plants and animals on Earth. The continent is home to llamas and alpacas that originally were wild but became domesticated nearly 5,000 years ago.

The indigenous people of South America may have migrated south from North America although the majority of its current 371 million residents are of European descent. The population is largely along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts with large portions of the inland regions hosting small and widely spread populations. Colonization efforts by Spanish and Portuguese explorers ultimately lead to the prevalence of those languages on the South American continent.