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South America, fourth largest of the world’scontinents. It is the southern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, theWestern Hemisphere, or simply the Americas. Thecontinent is compact and roughly triangular in shape, being broad in the north andtapering to a point—Cape Horn,Chile—in the south.

South America is bounded by theCaribbean Sea to the northwest and north, theAtlantic Ocean to the northeast, east, and southeast, and thePacific Ocean to the west. In the northwest it is joined toNorth America by theIsthmus of Panama, aland bridge narrowing to about 50 miles (80 km) at one point.Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn, separates South America fromAntarctica.

Relatively few islands rim the continent, except in the south. These include the glaciated coastal archipelagoes ofArgentina andChile. TheFalkland (Malvinas) Islands are east of southern Argentina. To the north, theWest Indies stretch from Trinidad to Florida, but those islands usually are associated with North America. Of the remainder, most are small oceanic islands off the coasts of South America, including theGalapagos Islands,Ecuador, in the Pacific Ocean.

South America has a total area of about 6,878,000 square miles (17,814,000 square km), or roughly one-eighth of the land surface ofEarth. Its greatest north-south extent is about 4,700 miles, fromPoint Gallinas,Colombia, to Cape Horn, while its greatest east-west extent is some 3,300 miles, fromCape Branco, Brazil, to Point Pariñas,Peru. At 22,831 feet (6,959 metres) abovesea level,Mount Aconcagua, in Argentina, near the border with Chile, is not only the continent’s highest point but also the highest elevation in the Western Hemisphere. TheValdés Peninsula, on the southeastern coast of Argentina, includes the lowest point, at 131 feet (40 metres) below sea level. In relation to its area, the continent’s coastline—some 15,800 miles in length—is exceptionally short.

The nameAmerica is derived from that of the Italian navigatorAmerigo Vespucci, one of the earliest European explorers of the New World. The term America originally was applied only to South America, but thedesignation soon was applied to the entire landmass. BecauseMexico andCentral America share an Iberian heritage with nearly all of South America, this entire region frequently is grouped under the nameLatin America.

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South America’s geologic structure consists of two dissymmetric parts. In the larger, eastern portion are found a number of stable shields forming highland regions, separated by large basins (including the vastAmazon basin). The western portion is occupied almost entirely by theAndes Mountains. The Andes—formed as the South American Plate drifted westward and forced the oceanic plate to the west under it—constitute a gigantic backbone along the entire Pacific coast of the continent. The basins east of the Andes and between the eastern highlands have been filled with large quantities of sediment washed down by the continent’s great rivers and their tributaries.

No other continent—except Antarctica—penetrates so far to the south. Although the northern part of South America extends north of the Equator and four-fifths of its landmass is located within the tropics, it also reaches subantarctic latitudes. Much of the high Andes lie within the tropics but include extensive zones of temperate or cold climate in the vicinity of theEquator—a circumstance that is unique. The great range in elevation produces an unrivaleddiversity of climatic and ecological zones, which is probably the most prominent characteristic of South American geography.

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The original inhabitants of South America are believed to have descended from the same Asiatic peoples who migrated to North America fromSiberia during the most recent (Wisconsin)ice age. Few of these peoples, however, survived the arrival of Europeans after 1500, mostsuccumbing to disease or mixing with people of European and (especially in Brazil) African origin. Some parts of the continent are now industrialized, with modern cities, but the people in rural areas still follow an agricultural way of life. The wealth of mineral products and renewable resources is considerable, yet economic development in most of the continent lags behind the more industrially advanced regions of the world. Nonetheless, concern has arisen about the rapidly increasing and often destructive exploitation of these resources.

For discussion of individual countries of the continent, see specific articles by name—e.g.,Argentina,Brazil, andVenezuela. For discussion of major cities of the continent, see the articlesBuenos Aires,Caracas,Lima,Rio de Janeiro, andSão Paulo. For discussion of theindigenous peoples of the continent, see the articlesSouth American Indian; andpre-Columbian civilizations. Related topics are discussed in the articlesLatin America, history of, andLatin American literature.