ARGENTINA | BOLIVIA | BRAZIL | CHILE | COLOMBIA | ECUADOR | PARAGUAY | PERU | URUGUAY | VENEZUELA |
Nestled between the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the South Atlantic Oceans, South America is the wilder of the Americas and a continent of superlatives. The world's biggest rainforest and second longest river (Amazon), the second highest mountain range (the Andes), remote islands (Galapagos Islands, Easter Island and Fernando de Noronha), heavenly beaches (such as in Brazil's Northeastern region), wide deserts (Atacama), icy landscapes (Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego) the world's tallest waterfall (the 979m Angel Falls, in Venezuela) and one of the largest (Iguaçu Falls, Argentina and Brazil), as well as several other breathtaking natural attractions.
South America shares a mainland border with Panama, the 'bridge of the Americas', which as the southernmost country of Central America connects to the South via Columbia.
Besides, the work of man has also left rare gems on the continent: ruins of ancient civilizations (Machu Picchu and other Inca cities; the Moais in Easter Island) share the continent with world-class metropolises (São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Santiago de Chile, Caracas, Lima and Rio de Janeiro), outstanding modern architecture (Brasilia), European architecture (Buenos Aires), the oldest rock paintings in the Americas at the Serra da Capivara), strong African heritage (in Salvador, Rio and Montevideo), genuine indigenous (Belém, Manaus, Cuzco, Lima, La Paz), charming cities built in the Andes (Caracas, Medellin, Quito, Santiago de Chile) and Eastern culture (São Paulo's enormous Japanese community), mingled with the fingerprints of Iberian colonizers.
South America's major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and oil. The many resources of South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies. The inevitable fluctuation in the price of commodities in the international markets has led historically to major highs and lows in the economies of South American states, often also causing extreme political instability. This is leading to efforts to diversify their production to drive them away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export.
Portuguese and Spanish are the most spoken languages in South America, a geographic region which is part of the bigger cultural region of Latin America. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, which holds over 50% of the South American population. Spanish is the official language of most countries of the continent.
