The continent is compact and approximately triangular in condition, currently being broad from the north and tapering to a point—Cape Horn, Chile—while in the south.

He organized a fleet to succeed in Peru by sea, and sought the army aid of various rebels within the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1822 the two Adult men achieved on the Guayaquil Meeting in Ecuador, exactly where they did not concur on governance techniques with the liberated nations.[28] Two a long time later Bolívar's forces beat the Spanish for the Struggle of Ayacucho, securing the independence of Peru and the rest of South America.[28]

The Amazon River, which flows from west to east through the north-central portion of South America, is the planet's greatest river in terms of discharge quantity. By some definitions, the Amazon River is usually the longest river on the globe - while the Nile River is generally looked upon as the earth's longest, some reports suggest an alternative source to the Amazon River, which would in fact enable it to be the planet's longest.

Almost all of the continent lies during the tropics, apart from a considerable Section of the Southern Cone situated in the center latitudes.

Innovative movements and right-wing navy dictatorships grew to become typical soon after Environment War II, but Because the eighties, a wave of democratization passed with the continent, and democratic rule is common now.

In areas of north Argentina and Paraguay, which tumble close to the Tropic of Capricorn, rainfall is sparse and temperatures are typically heat. The west coast of the continent, specially in Chile, tends to be dry and incredibly hot in the summer, with snowfall over the mountains while in the Wintertime.

The continent's cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin While using the conversation of Indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, much more locally, with African slaves. Provided an extended historical past of colonialism, the frustrating the vast majority of South Americans discuss Spanish or Portuguese, and societies and states are full of Western traditions.

Satellite watch of South America at night from NASA, demonstrating the contrast in between heavily populated coastal spots and the more remote regions of the Amazonian interior and Patagonia South America has a populace of more than 428 million individuals. They are really distributed concerning form a "hollow continent" with the vast majority of population concentrated round the margins from the page continent.[48] On a person hand, there are several sparsely populated regions such as tropical forests, the Atacama Desert along with the icy parts of Patagonia.

Brazil is the biggest nation in South America, masking a little less than 50 % of the continent's land space and encompassing all around half on the continent's inhabitants.

In additional arid locations, the prevailing animals are classified as the llama plus the alpaca, mostly present in the Andean parts of South America.

The vast majority of click here continent's Strength is generated by way of hydroelectric energy vegetation, but there's also a crucial share of thermoelectric and wind energy.

The fluctuation in the cost check here of commodities in Worldwide markets has led Traditionally to important highs and lows, booms and busts, during the economies of South American states, normally producing political instability.[fifty eight] This has led for calls to diversify production and increase trade in just South America alone.[58]

Headquarters from the website UNASUR in Quito, Ecuador Traditionally, the Hispanic countries had been Established as Republican dictatorships led by caudillos. Brazil was the sole exception, currently being a constitutional monarchy for its first 67 many years of independence, until eventually a coup d'état proclaimed a republic.

Lately, an intergovernmental entity click here has become shaped which aims to merge the two existing customs unions: Mercosur plus the Andean Group, So forming the 3rd-major trade bloc on the globe.