Countries of South America

Countries of South America

Introduction

In this paper, we would be discussing aspects of three South American countries; Argentina, Brazil and Peru. South America is the fourth largest continent of the planet (Hirschmann, 2011). It consists of three main territories and twelve autonomous states. The countries include Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, French Guiana, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, Suriname, Guyana, and Falkland Islands.

It was named by Matthias Ringmann and Martin Waldseemüller in the year 1507. It is bound by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the South Pacific Ocean to the west. South America connects to North America by the Isthmus of Panama (www.mapsofworld.com). South America is situated in the southern hemisphere of the earth. South America has a total land area of 17,840,000 sq km. It constitutes around 3.5% of the total surface of earth. The population of this continent is estimated to be around 371,000,000. It is the fourth largest continent of the globe in terms of its area and fifth largest in terms of population.

It is an incredibly bio-diverse continent of the world. It is the home to the Amazon River and the Pantanal wetland system. It has the world's highest waterfall, the longest mountain range, largest rainforest, the driest desert, the highest capital city and the highest railroad. The major natural resources of South America are gold, copper, silver, tin, iron ore and oil. The continent is culturally influenced by the colonial rule and the Portuguese and Spanish explorers, which has induced rich traditions of art, literature and music in the continent(www.mapsofworld.com). The history of this versatile continent dates back to 5000 B.C. Most of the South American countries are economically sound and are on their way to progress.

Discussion

South American countries including Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile have shown tremendous economic growth even during the period of global recession. The G.D.P. of South America was $ 3.5 trillion in the year 2010. Agriculture and manufacturing are the two most important industries of South America. The mineral resources of the continent have also supported in growing the economy of the continent (www.mapsofworld.com). Brazil is the largest economy of the continent. Many forms are government can be found in South America including parliamentary, federal, presidential, democratic, republics, constitutional as well as countries ruled under military dictatorship. In the last decade, however, the South American countries have shown a rising preference towards left wing parties.

Brazil

Geography

Brazil is the 6th largest nation of the world and the largest of South America and it covers nearly half of the continent(www.infoplease.com). The capital of the country is Brasilia. The area of Brazil is nearly 8,515,000 km². The total area covered by land is 8,459,417 sq km and that covered by water is 55,460 sq km(www.indexmundi.com). It shares its border with every nation of the continent except for Ecuador and Chile(Holiday, 2005). The current population of Brazil is around 205,716,890(www.indexmundi.com).

History

The first people to arrive in the area were the Portuguese, who were led by Pedro ...