South America

S

South America is a continent located in the western hemisphere, mostly in the southern hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the northern hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is how it is viewed in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas.

South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America)

South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq mi). Its population as of 2016 has been estimated at more than 420 million. Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half of the continent’s population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru. In recent decades Brazil has also concentrated half of the region’s GDP and has become a first regional power.

Climate

Map of South America according to Köppen climate classification. The distribution of the average temperatures in the region presents a constant regularity from the 30° of latitude south, when the isotherms tend, more and more, to be confused with the degrees of latitude.

The average annual temperatures in the Amazon basin oscillate around 27 °C, with low thermal amplitudes and high rainfall indices. Between the Maracaibo Lake and the mouth of the Orinoco, predominates an equatorial climate of the type Congolese, that also includes parts of the Brazilian territory.

Wars and conflicts

A German submarine under attack by Brazilian Air Force PBY Catalina, 31 July 1943
South-American history in early 19th century was built almost exclusively on wars. Despite the Spanish American wars of independence and the Brazilian War of Independence, the new nations quickly began to suffer with internal conflicts and wars among themselves.

In 1825 the proclamation of independence of Cisplatina led to the Cisplatine War between historical rivals the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Argentina’s predecessor. The result was a stalemate with the British ending in the independence of Uruguay. Soon after, another Brazilian province proclaimed its independence leading to the Ragamuffin War which Brazil won.

Religion

History of the Jews in Latin America and the Caribbean, Buddhism in Brazil, and Islam in Argentina
An estimated 90% of South Americans are Christians[52] (82% Roman Catholic, 8% other Christian denominations mainly traditional Protestants and Evangelicals but also Orthodox), accounting for ca. 19% of Christians worldwide.

Sport

Panorama of the interior of the Maracanã stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Atucha I Nuclear Power Plant, the first South-American nuclear power plant, in Argentina. A wide range of sports are played in the continent of South America, with football (a.k.a. soccer) being the most popular overall, while baseball is the most popular in Venezuela.

Other sports include basketball, cycling, polo, volleyball, futsal, motorsports, rugby (mostly in Argentina and Uruguay), handball, tennis, golf, field hockey and boxing.

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