Facts on South America

South America is a continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest.

Area: 17,840,000 km²
Population: 371,000,000
Countries: 12
Dependencies: 3
Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French, Quechua, Aymara, Guaraní, Italian, English, German, Dutch, Japanese and many others
Time Zones: UTC -2:00 (Brazil) to UTC -5:00 (Ecuador)
Largest Cities: São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Caracas

Territories

Name of territory Area
Population
(1 July 2005 est.)
Population density
per km² (per sq mi)
Capital
Argentina 2,766,890 km² (1,068,302 sq mi)  39,537,943 14.3/km² (37/sq mi) Buenos Aires
Bolivia 1,098,580 km² (424,164 sq mi)   8,857,870 8.1/km² (21/sq mi) La Paz, Sucre
Brazil 8,514,877 km² (3,287,612 sq mi) 187,550,726 22.0/km² (57/sq mi) Brasília
Chile   756,950 km² (292,260 sq mi)  15,980,912 21.1/km² (54.6/sq mi) Santiago
Colombia 1,138,910 km² (439,736 sq mi)  42,954,279 37.7/km² (97.6/sq mi) Bogotá
Ecuador   283,560 km² (109,483 sq mi)  13,363,593 47.1/km² (122/sq mi) Quito
Falkland Islands (UK)    12,173 km² (4,700 sq mi)       2,967 0.24/km² (0.6/sq mi) Stanley
French Guiana (France)    91,000 km² (35,135 sq mi)     195,506 2.1/km² (5.4/sq mi) Cayenne
Guyana   214,970 km² (83,000 sq mi)     765,283 3.6/km² (9.3/sq mi) Georgetown
Paraguay   406,750 km² (157,047 sq mi)   6,347,884 15.6/km² (40.4/sq mi) Asunción
Peru 1,285,220 km² (496,226 sq mi)  27,925,628 21.7/km² (56.2/sq mi) Lima
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (UK)     3,093 km² (1,194 sq mi) 0 0/km² (0/sq mi) Grytviken
Suriname   163,270 km² (63,039 sq mi)     438,144 2.7/km² (7/sq mi) Paramaribo
Uruguay   176,220 km² (68,039 sq mi)   3,415,920 19.4/km² (50.2/sq mi) Montevideo
Venezuela   912,050 km² (352,144 sq mi)  25,375,281 27.8/km² (72/sq mi) Caracas
Central America
Panama 25,347 km² (9,787 sq mi) 540,433 21.3/km² (55.2/sq mi) Panama City
Total 17,846,948 km² (6,890,745 sq mi) 371,814,437 20.8/km² (53.9/sq mi)  

Economy

Country GDP (nominal) of 2006 GDP (PPP) of 2005 GDP (PPP) per capita of 2005 HDI of 2004
Argentina 212,702 558,860 14,838 0.863
Bolivia 10,828 26,087 2,945 0.692
Brazil 1,067,706 1,594,482 9,108 0.792
Chile 145,205 196,401 13,254 0.859
Colombia 135,075 350,797 7,630 0.790
Ecuador 40,447 60,173 4,475 0.765
Guyana 0,870 3,456 4,799 0.725
Paraguay 8,773 29,297 4,799 0.757
Peru 93,268 170,089 6,173 0.767
Suriname 2,112 3,018 5,883 0.759
Uruguay 19,221 34,620 10,103 0.851
Venezuela 181,608 174,604 5,777 0.784

Countries of South America