South America is a continent of America. It is situated in western hemisphere, southern hemisphere and Northern hemisphere. South America is bordered to the west by Pacific ocean, to the north and to the east by Atlantic ocean, and to the north west by North America and Caribbean sea.
South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers, or almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface. In 2010 its population was estimated at more than 386,000,000. South America ranks fifth in area (after Asia, Africa, Europe and North America)
Countries in South America include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Physical Characteristic
AMAZON BASIN
The Amazon Basin or Amazonia is covered by the largest tropical rain forest in the world. This is because the Equator passes through its middle and the Amazon River and its tributaries run through this area.
In this area, rain falls 200 days per year and receives 250 cm. of rain per year.
The basin drains over 6,992,968 sq.km overall, and covers about one-third of the South American landmass. The Andes Mountains are the source of the water for these rivers.
ANDES MOUNTAINS
This mountain range extends from the tip of South America all the way to Panama.
It's the source of most major rivers on the continent.
The Andes Mountains are 7,240 kilometers long and are also home to some of the planet's largest volcanoes.
In the far south along the coast of Chile, it is very common to see large ice sheets floating in this area because it is near the South Pole.
The South Pole is being harmed by global warming, that’s why the ice is melting and floating to there.
The Andes and its many ranges include dozens of peaks that reach over 6,096 meters. The highest point is the Aconcagua in Argentina, at 6,960 meters.
ATACAMA DESERT
The Atacama Desert has a small population and some Population runs high into the Andes of Chile. Atacama is quite a small desert, when compared to other deserts. Rainfall is very rare here. The dessert is approximately 161 kilometers wide and 1,006 kilometers long. Have a look at these pictures; the yellow line is the border of the Atacama Desert.
If you look carefully through these pictures, you should find that the Atacama Desert is mostly located in Chile and Some parts are in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.The landscape is totally barren and covered with small borax lakes, lava flow remnants and saline deposits.
BRAZILIAN HIGHLANDS
This highland region is about 1,287 kilometers long. It runs through the Brazilian states of Bahia, Goias, Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil.
This wonderful landscape include varied mountain ranges, namely the Serra de Mantiquiera, Serra do Paranapiataba, Serra Geral, and Serra do Mar.
The estimated highest point is 2,245 meters above sea level.
GUIANA HIGHLANDS
Guiana Highlands are geographically stunning parts of Planet Earth.
The highlands are more than 1,609 kilometers in length. They stretch from southern Venezuela to the tip of Brazil. The highlands consist of tropical rain forests, numerous rivers and waterfalls. The most well-known waterfall is Angel Falls. It’s the highest waterfall in the world at 979 meters high. The highest point of Guiana Highlands is Roraima at 2,810 meters, located on the border of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela.
LLANOS
Llanos is the name of a large and very fertile plain. This picture shows that Llanos is situated in eastern and central Colombia, and in central and southern Venezuela. Llanos is drained by the Orinoco River and many tributaries of Orinoco River. Llanos is approximately 582,000 square kilometers in size.
PAMPAS
Pampas is famous for its many cattle ranches. It is a large plain in the southern part of the South America.From this picture you can see that Pampas covers the entire country of Uruguay, some of central Argentina and southern Brazil. Pampas extends for almost 1,600 kilometers, and covers 761,460 square kilometers.
PATAGONIA
Patagonia is a plateau located between Mt. Andes and the Atlantic Ocean. Patagonia is about 1,609 kilometers in length. It stretches to the south from the Rio Negro River in southern Argentina to Tierra del Fuego. It's mostly rough, dry land, famed for its beauty and view. There are many llamas living there.
River Systems
There are three great river systems in South America and a number of important rivers that are not a part of these systems.
The largest river system is the Amazon with its many tributaries, draining a basin covering 7,000,000 square kilometers or about 40% of the continent.
The next largest is the system composed of the Paraguay, Paraná, and La Plata rivers, the last being a huge estuary. Have a look carefully at this picture; actually these three rivers are the same river. But it has different names because it flows through many countries. The names just depend on what area it is flowing through.
The third largest river system, located in southern Venezuela, is called the Orinoco.
It drains 945,000 kilometers of land, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean along the northeast edge of the continent.
Mineral resources
I would like to talk about which countries are mining on South America's major mineral resources [explain the mineral and countries mining on it like Brazil, Peru and Chile mining Iron ore].
The many resources of South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth.
South America Climate
Most of South America’s climate is tropical. Each region has its own climate. Which depends on geographical location, ocean currents and winds.
The Amazon River Basin has a tropical climate. It is suitable for the growth of rain forests. The temperature in the Amazon River Basin is about 21-32 ๐C. On the other hand, Andes mountains are cold all year-round and temperature of mountain are always very low.
The desert region of Chile is the driest part of South America. Western winds carry moisture. Which causes rainfall on the western side of the Andes mountains. On the eastern side of the mountains there is little rain. The cold Peru currents carry little moisture so the coasts of Peru and Northern Chile are dry.
The seven parts of South America experiencing heavy rainfall are the Amazon River Basin, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname coasts, southwestern part of Chile Columbia and Ecuador coasts.
Animals and Plants
South America is one of the most bio-diversed continents on earth. South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity.
Agriculture
Agricultural products vary from items like a variety of fruits and vegetables, diary items, meat, livestock, fish and more. Raising beef for export is an important export commodity for Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia.
Amongst the tropical crops grown for domestic use and for export, coffee is the most important. It is produced mainly in the highlands of Brazil and in central and western Colombia. Cacao is also important and produced in the eastern Brazil and western Colombia regions.
Sugar is produced for export in Peru, Guyana and Suriname however the sugarcane produced in most other parts is mainly for domestic use only.
Peru produces cotton for export, as does eastern Brazil. Uruguay has been exporting wool
Sugar is produced for export in Peru, Guyana and Suriname however the sugarcane produced in most other parts is mainly for domestic use only.
Peru produces cotton for export, as does eastern Brazil. Uruguay has been exporting wool
Fishing and Forestry
The fishing and forestry industries in South America are relatively small and orientated towards domestic markets. There is a huge market here for large-scale forestry and fishing industries.
South America's most important fishing tends to be in the Pacific coast waters as anchovies are caught for fish meal off the coasts of Peru and Chile, Tuna is caught off the coast of Ecuador and Peru and Crustaceans are caught in Chile, Guiana and Brazil.
Language
Portuguese and Spanish are the most spoken languages in South America, Portuguese is the official language of Brazil. Spanish is the official language of most countries of the continent. Dutch is the official language of Suriname; English is the official language of Guyana, although there are at least twelve other languages spoken in the country such as Hindi, Arabic, and various indigenous dialects. English is also spoken in the Falkland Islands. French is the official language of French Guiana.
Religion
Roman Catholicism was brought to South America by the conquistadores during the first part of the 16th century. During the colonial period most of the native peoples of the continent—with the exception of those in the Amazon Basin, on the Pampas, and in Patagonia—were converted to this faith. The overwhelming majority of the people on the continent today are Roman Catholics
Vegetation
The vegetation zone and climate zone of South America are related. The areas of wet tropical climate have a dense cover of rain forest which is the largest forest area in the world. It covers much of equatorial, in Brazilian Coast and the lower slopes of the Andes. In rain forest of South America there are tropical hard wood, palms, tree ferns, bamboos, and lianas.
Open forest and bush lands are found the arid area on the Venezuela Coast, in northeastern Brazil, and on the Gran Chaco.
Between the two types area are Savanna , Scrub and grass. There are mixed forest, deciduous and evergreen trees and deciduous forest. In Brazil there are forests along the coast to the south, into areas of rolling prairie, which has wooded hills in between. The Gran Chaco is covered with grassland and open thorn forest. Pampas in eastern Argentina is the largest grassland in midlatitude area. In the south is a zones of scrub steppe it marks the transition to the low bush and bunch grass it cover the drier and cooler Patagonia region. A long the Pacific coast, crops grow along the coast the north. There are open forests with bush and grass in central Chile.
Lifestyle
South American like listening to music. Some of the most famous genres include cambia from Colombia, samba and bossa nova from Brazil, and tango from Argentina.
In Brazil, Samba is the most popular types of song.
Tango is a types of music, It originated from Buenos Aires in Argentina, Montevideo in Uruguay. And spread to the rest of the world.
In the past Tango was known as Tango Crio or Tango. Now there are many tango style including Argentine Tango, Uruguayan Tango, Ballroom tango which is American and International styles, Finnish tango and vintage tangos.
There are many types of Tango that was considered to be the real tango. But the real Tango is in Argentina and Uruguay. Though other types of Tango have developed into mature dances in their own right.
http://youtu.be/z0xsccVQO7U
