What are 5 facts about South America?
General Facts about South America
- Total Population: 428 million people.
- Largest city: Sao Paulo (Brazil)
- Life expectancy: 72 (males) 79 (females)
- Highest Mountain: Aconcagua (6962 meters above the sea)
- Land area: square kilometers (6,890,000 square miles)
- Largest Lake: Lake Titicaca.
- Longest River: Amazon River.
What is South America known for?
South America’s landscape is dominated from mountains and highlands such as the Andes, river basins such as the Amazon and Orinoco and coastal plains where the Atacama Desert also belongs to. Countries in South America that are located in the Northern Hemisphere: Venezuela.
What is special about South America?
The world’s longest mountain range in the world is the Andes Mountains, located in South America. South America is home to the driest place on earth – the Atacama Desert. The Amazon Rainforest, which is the largest rainforest in the world, is located in South America.
What are 3 interesting facts about South America?
These fun facts about South America will give you a glimpse into a continent steeped in natural beauty and culture
- #1 The world’s second-largest swimming pool.
- #2 No doorbells in Paraguay.
- #3 The world’s longest mountain range.
- #4 The world’s largest salt flat.
- #5 12 countries but hundreds of languages.
How would you describe South America?
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as a southern subcontinent of the Americas. South America has an area of square kilometers (6,890,000 sq mi).
Who was the first person in South America?
The earliest archaeological evidence from human settlement comes from Monte Verde (possibly as early as 16,500 BCE). Based on archaeological evidence from an excavation at Caverna da Pedra Pintada, human inhabitants first settled in the Amazon region at least 11,200 years ago.
Who discovered South America in 1500?
In 1497 an Italian called Giovanni Caboto (called John Cabot in England) landed in North America. Further European discoveries were made by the Portuguese Pedro Cabral, who landed in Brazil in 1500 and by Giovanni da Verrazano, who explored the east coast of North America in the 1520s.
How did South America get its name?
It is generally accepted that the name derives from Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer, who explored the new continents in the following years. However, some have suggested other explanations, including being named after a mountain range in Nicaragua, or after Richard Amerike of Bristol.
Why do we call ourselves American?
Originally, yes, the term America was used to denote anything from the Americas, which consists of North America and South America. In the 1500’s the term American was used to represent the native inhabitants of the lands of the New World. The British were the first ones to call citizens of the USA “Americans.”
How did South America get divided?
In 1493 the Papal edict Inter Caetera pronounced that ‘barbarous nations be overthrown’. The Treaty of Tordesilles was signed by the Spanish and Portuguese crowns in 1494 and divided the continent between them – roughly along the current borders of Brazil.
What is the culture of South America?
Culture in South America The culture of South America today stems from a diverse set of cultural traditions, dating back to those of pre-Columbian civilisations and indigenous tribes, which have mixed with those of African slaves as well as Asian and European immigrants.
Where does South America begin?
The Panama-Colombia border The border between North America and South America is at some point on the Isthmus of Panama. The most common demarcation in atlases and other sources follows the Darién Mountains watershed divide along the Colombia-Panama border where the isthmus meets the South American continent.
Is South America part of USA?
It’s a common geographical mistake considering both regions are in Latin America. However, South and Central America are located on entirely different continents. Central America is part of North America, along with Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean island countries.
What’s the difference between Latin America and South America?
The difference between Latin America and South America is that Latin America is a linguistic or cultural division of the continent whereas south America is the geographical division of the continent. Latin America includes countries whose heritage is predominantly Spanish, Portuguese, or French.
Is Mexico in South America or Latin America?
Latin America is generally understood to consist of the entire continent of South America in addition to Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean whose inhabitants speak a Romance language.
Is Mexico part of South America?
Mexico shares a large land border with the United States, but is isolated from South America – a region that struggles to integrate into the global system and is essentially a giant island in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, from a strictly geographic point of view, Mexico lies firmly in North America.
Are Somalis Berbers?
Somalia is a country where the people a language that belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. “Bilad al Berbera” means “the country of Berbers” in Arabic and for a time, Arabs knew Somalis as Berbers. This was long before anyone called the natives of North Africa and the Sahel Berbers.
Who colonized Somalia?
Somalia was colonized by European powers in the 19th century. Britain and Italy established the colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland in 1884 and 1889, respectively. These two Somali lands eventually united and gained independence on July 1, 1960.