South America is the fourth largest continent on the Earth. It lies between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It has the world’s largest forest area. This continent looks like a triangle on the world map.
Surface area: 17,819,000 km2
Location: Western hemisphere, south of Central America
Major countries: Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela
Important physical features:
♦ The Andes Mountains: vast series of high plateaus, spread from the southernmost tip to the Caribbean in north
♦ The Amazon Rainforest, the world’s largest tropical rainforest in Brazil
♦ The Amazon River, the second longest river in the world
Major languages: Portuguese and Spanish
