Things to know about South America

South America is situated in the western hemisphere, most of which is in the southern hemisphere. The Pacific Ocean borders the continent to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east, and North America and the Caribbean Sea to the northwest. Like North America, South America was named after the European shipwright Amerigo Vespucci, who, for the first time, revealed that the United States was not India but a new world that Europeans did not know.

Area

South America's total area is 17,840,000 square kilometers (6890, 000 square miles), which is 3.5% of the total land area It’s the fourth largest continent by area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and the fourth largest by population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America).

South America is generally recognized as a continent that is the southern part of the Americas. The canal is located in the south and east of Panama, passing through the Panama Canal. At one time, North and South America were recognized as one continent and both as subcontinents. Geologically, almost all of South America is based on the South American layer. At the same time, politically, entire Panama, except for the Panama Canal east of the Panama Canal, is considered part of the North American continent and is regarded as a Central American country.

Population

As of 2005, the continent has a population of 371,000,000.The majority of the continent's population lives in coastal areas. Brazil is the continent's largest country in terms of both area and population, accounting for half of its total population. Most of the South American society lives in cities. Many of these cities are overcrowded and have problems with inadequate housing. The Brazilian city of Sao Paulo is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world and the largest city on the continent. The forests of the Amazon in the central regions and the surrounding areas of the Andes mountain range in the west are almost uninhabited.

Argentina is the wealthiest country on the continent with a very high standard of living. Guyana and Bolivia are among the world's poorest countries due to their weak economies and are primarily dependent on raw material shipments. Crime and corruption are rampant in Colombia and neighboring countries due to the drug menace.

Source of Employment

The most important source of employment in agriculture in South America, and in addition to coffee and cocoa, livestock are also raised. Most industries are in Brazil, followed by Argentina, Venezuela, and Chile. The big coastal cities of Rio de Janeiro, Lima, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires are the most employed, so they are the epicenter of rural-urban migration. Sao Paulo is the largest industrial city in Brazil, producing iron, car-making, alchemy, textiles, and leather products. Coca-Cola is grown in the mountainous regions of Bolivia and Colombia to deliver cocaine, a significant source of illicit drug trafficking.