Editing South America (section)

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of South America}}

[[File:South America - Blue Marble orthographic.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A composite relief image of South America]]

South America occupies the southern portion of the Americas. The continent is generally delimited on the northwest by the [[Darién Gap|Darién watershed]] along the [[Colombia–Panama border]], although some may consider the border instead to be the [[Panama Canal]]. [[Geopolitics|Geopolitically]]<ref>Cohen, Saul Bernard. 2003. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QkMD8HKRlgoC&pg=PA141 "North and Middle America" (Ch. 5)], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101123048/https://books.google.com/books?id=QkMD8HKRlgoC&pg=PA141|date=1 January 2016}}. ''Geopolitics of the World System'', {{ISBN|0847699072}}.</ref> and geographically, all of [[Panama]] – including the segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmus – is typically included in North America alone<ref>[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas "Americas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226004109/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas|date=26 December 2018}}, ''Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)'', United Nations Statistics Division.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/north_america/referencemap_image_view|title=North America|work=Atlas of Canada|date=14 November 2003|access-date=21 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303233306/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/north_america/referencemap_image_view|archive-date=3 March 2008}}</ref><ref name="North America Atlas">[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=nameri&Rootmap=&Mode=d&SubMode=w North America Atlas], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525180734/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/?xpop=1|date=25 May 2020}}, National Geographic.</ref> and among the countries of [[Central America]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/440722/Panama|title=Panama|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=31 December 1999|access-date=21 May 2012|archive-date=2 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502193816/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/440722/Panama|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/panama/|title=Panama|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=21 May 2012|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123023447/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/panama/|url-status=live}}</ref> Almost all of mainland South America sits on the [[South American Plate]].

South America is home to several superlatives, including the [[list of waterfalls by height|world's highest uninterrupted waterfall]], [[Angel Falls]] in Venezuela; the highest single-drop waterfall [[Kaieteur Falls]] in Guyana; the largest river by volume, the [[Amazon River]]; the longest mountain range, the [[Andes]] (whose highest mountain is [[Aconcagua]] at {{convert|6962|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}); the driest non-polar place on earth, the [[Atacama Desert]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0308/feature3/|title=Parts of Chile's Atacama Desert haven't seen a drop of rain since recordkeeping began. Somehow, more than a million people squeeze life from this parched land|work=National Geographic Magazine|access-date=18 April 2009|archive-date=15 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815172530/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0308/feature3/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.extremescience.com/DriestPlace.htm|title=Driest Place &#124; Driest Desert Atacama Desert|publisher=Extremescience.com|date=25 January 2007|access-date=18 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408100840/http://www.extremescience.com/DriestPlace.htm|archive-date=8 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=McKay |first=C. P. |date=May–June 2002 |title=Two dry for life: The Atacama Desert and Mars |url=http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/marsanalog/egypt/AtacamaAdAstra.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Ad Astra |volume=14 |issue=3 |page=30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826151945/http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/marsanalog/egypt/AtacamaAdAstra.pdf |archive-date=26 August 2009}}</ref> the wettest place on earth, [[López de Micay]] in Colombia; the largest rainforest, the [[Amazon rainforest]]; the highest capital city, [[La Paz]], [[Bolivia]]; the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, [[Lake Titicaca]]; and, excluding research stations in [[Antarctica]], the world's southernmost permanently inhabited community, [[Puerto Toro]], Chile.

South America's major [[mineral]] resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, [[tin]], and petroleum. These resources have brought high income to its countries, especially in times of war or of rapid economic growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one, or few, major export commercial [[Product (business)|products]] has often hindered the development and diversification of its economies. The fluctuation in the price of commodities in international markets has led historically to major highs and lows, booms and busts, in the economies of South American states, often causing political instability.<ref name="auto13">{{Cite web|url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/why-latin-america-lost-at-globalization-and-how-it-can-win-now/|title=Why Latin America Lost at Globalization—and How It Can Win Now}}</ref> This has led for calls to diversify production and increase trade within South America itself.<ref name="auto13"/>

Brazil is the largest country in South America, covering a little less than half of the continent's land area and encompassing around half of the continent's population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bacctravel.com/about-brazil|title=Bacc Travel brazilian Vacation Experts|website=bacctravel.com|access-date=15 April 2021|archive-date=7 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307064450/https://www.bacctravel.com/about-brazil|url-status=live}}</ref> The remaining countries and territories are divided among four [[Subregion#South America|subregions]]: the [[Andean Community|Andean states]], [[Caribbean South America]], [[The Guianas]], and the [[Southern Cone]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=4 January 2012|title=South America: Physical Geography|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/south-america-physical-geography/|access-date=19 February 2021|publisher=National Geographic Society|archive-date=10 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210204912/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/south-america-physical-geography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Outlying islands===
[[File:Village_Gran_Roque.jpg|thumb|The Gran Roque village, the largest settlement of the [[Los Roques Archipelago]], Venezuela]]

Physiographically, South America also includes some of the nearby islands. The Dutch [[ABC islands (Leeward Antilles)|ABC islands]] ([[Aruba]], [[Bonaire]], and [[Curaçao]]), the islands of [[Trinidad and Tobago]] ([[Trinidad Island]] and [[Tobago Island]] etc.), the [[Nueva Esparta|State of Nueva Esparta]], and the [[Federal Dependencies of Venezuela]] sit on the northern portion of the South American [[continental shelf]] and are sometimes considered parts of the continent. Geopolitically, all the island countries and territories in the [[Caribbean]] have generally been grouped as a [[Subregion#North America|subregion]] of North America instead. By contrast, [[Aves Island]] (administered by [[Venezuela]]) and the [[Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina]] ([[San Andrés Island]], [[Providencia Island]], and [[Santa Catalina Island (Colombia)|Santa Catalina Island]] etc., which are administered by [[Colombia]]) are politically parts of South American countries but physiographically parts of North America.<ref name="North America Atlas"/><ref>[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=sameri&Rootmap=&Mode=d&SubMode=w South America Atlas], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116135938/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/?xpop=1|date=16 November 2018}}, National Geographic.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas|title=United Nations Statistics Division – Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)|publisher=United Nations|date=20 September 2011|access-date=21 May 2012|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226004109/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other islands often associated with geopolitical South America are the [[Chiloé Archipelago]] and [[Robinson Crusoe Island]] (both administered by Chile), [[Easter Island]] (culturally a part of Oceania, also administered by Chile),<ref name="protectedareas"/> the [[Galápagos Islands]] (administered by [[Ecuador]], sometimes considered part of Oceania),<ref name="protectedareas">{{cite book|title=Review of the Protected Areas System in Oceania|date=1986|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources|url=https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30152/RevOceania.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|access-date=17 January 2022|quote=Easter Island on the east has been included on the basis of its Polynesian and biogeographic affinities even though it is politically apart. The other islands of the eastern Pacific (Galapagos, Juan Fernandez, etc.) have sometimes been included in Oceania.|archive-date=20 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120062626/https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30152/RevOceania.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hull|first1=Frank M.|title=A Check List of the Syrphidae of Oceania|date=1937|publisher=Department of Biology, University of Missouri|url=http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op13-10.pdf|access-date=17 January 2022|quote=Oceania is primarily considered as the restricted region treated in this paper, but for comparative purposes, in the table only, it is also considered in a broad sense as including New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Antipodes, and Galapagos.|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126074835/http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op13-10.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Oceania Bibliography|journal=Helictite: Journal of Australasian Cave Research|year=1987|volume=25|issue=1|url=https://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/25.01.Issue.Print.pdf|access-date=16 March 2022|quote=This paper covers the region from Irian Jaya (Western New Guinea, a province of New Guinea) in the west to Galapagos Islands (Equador) and Easter Island (Chile) in the east.|archive-date=22 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322012745/https://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/25.01.Issue.Print.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Tierra del Fuego]] (split between Argentina and Chile). In the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil administers [[Fernando de Noronha]], [[Trindade and Martim Vaz]], and the [[Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago]], while the [[Falkland Islands]] ({{langx|es|link=no|Islas Malvinas}}) and [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]] ([[Antarctic realm|biogeographically]] and [[Antarctic Convergence|hydrologically]] associated with Antarctica)<ref>{{Cite book|title=South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|page=2017}}</ref> have been administered as two [[British Overseas Territories]] under [[the Crown]], whose sovereignty over the islands is [[Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute|disputed]] by [[Argentina]].

====Special cases====
An isolated [[volcanic island]] on the [[South American Plate]], [[Ascension Island]] is geologically a part of South America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mcee.ou.edu/bweaver/Ascension/ai-geol.htm|title=Ascension Island Geology|website=mcee.ou.edu|access-date=25 October 2020|archive-date=19 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219213042/http://mcee.ou.edu/bweaver/Ascension/ai-geol.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Administered as a dependency of [[Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha]], the island is geopolitically [[United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa|a part]] of Africa.

===Climate===
{{see also|Arid Diagonal}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map South America present.svg|thumb|upright=1.7|[[Köppen climate classification|Köppen-Geiger climate classification]] map for South America<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Beck|first1=Hylke E.|last2=Zimmermann|first2=Niklaus E.|last3=McVicar|first3=Tim R.|last4=Vergopolan|first4=Noemi|last5=Berg|first5=Alexis|last6=Wood|first6=Eric F.|title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution|journal=Scientific Data|date=30 October 2018|volume=5|pages=180214|doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214|pmid=30375988|pmc=6207062|bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B}}</ref>]]

All of the world's major climate zones are present in South America.<ref name=Danuta>{{Cite book|title=Climates of the World|last=Martyn|first=Danuta|year=1992|isbn=0-444-98739-8|pages=308|translator-last=Senn|translator-first=Peter|chapter=The climates of South America|publisher=Elsevier}}</ref>

The distribution of the average temperatures in the region presents a constant regularity from the [[30th parallel south|30° of latitude south]], when the isotherms tend, more and more, to be confused with the degrees of latitude.<ref name="Climate">O CLIMA. In: ''Atlas Mundial''. São Paulo: Cia. Melhoramentos de São Paulo, 1999, pp. 20–21, {{ISBN|85-06-02889-2}}.</ref>

In temperate latitudes, winters and summers are milder than in North America. This is because the most extensive part of the continent is in the equatorial zone (the region has more areas of equatorial plains than any other region),<ref name="Climate"/> therefore giving the [[Southern Cone]] more oceanic influence, which moderates year round temperatures.

The average annual temperatures in the Amazon basin oscillate around {{convert|27|C|||}}, with low thermal amplitudes and high rainfall indices. Between the [[Maracaibo Lake]] and the mouth of the Orinoco, that also includes parts of the Brazilian territory, an [[equatorial climate]] typical of the Congolese regions in Central Africa predominates.<ref name="Climate"/>

The east-central Brazilian plateau has a humid and warm tropical climate. The northern and eastern parts of the Argentine pampas have a [[subtropics|humid subtropical climate]] with dry winters and humid summers commonly classified as a "[[Climate of China|Chinese type]]" climate, while the western and eastern ranges have a subtropical climate similar to the [[Dinaric Alps]] in Europe. At the highest points of the Andean region, climates are colder than the ones occurring at the highest point of the Norwegian fjords. In the Andean plateaus, the warm climate prevails, although it is tempered by the altitude, while in the coastal strip, there is an equatorial climate commonly classified as a "Guinean type" climate. North of the Andean plateaus up to the north of the Chilean coast a [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean oceanic climate]] dominates with temperate summers and cold winters akin to Cape Breton. In [[Tierra del Fuego]] a cold climate persists that is commonly referred to as a "[[Siberia|Siberian]] type" climate.<ref name="Climate"/>

[[File:Tropical cyclones 1945 2006 wikicolor.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Map of all tropical cyclone tracks from 1945 to 2006]]

The distribution of rainfall is related to the regime of winds and air masses. In most of the [[tropical region]] east of the Andes, winds blowing from the northeast, east and southeast carry moisture from the Atlantic, causing abundant rainfall. However, due to a consistently strong [[wind shear]] and a weak [[Intertropical Convergence Zone]], [[South Atlantic tropical cyclone]]s are rare.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G6.html|title=Why doesn't the South Atlantic Ocean experience tropical cyclones?|last=Landsea|first=Chris|date=13 July 2005|website=Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory|publisher=National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=9 June 2018|archive-date=16 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716182608/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G6.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[Orinoco Llanos]] and in the [[The Guianas|Guianas Plateau]], the precipitation levels go from moderate to high. The Pacific coast of Colombia and northern Ecuador are rainy regions, with [[El Chocó|Chocó]] in Colombia being the rainiest place in the world along with the northern slopes of Indian Himalayas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wettest Places on Earth By Annual Rainfall|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-ten-wettest-places-in-the-world.html|website=World Atlas|date=27 March 2019|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512220428/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-ten-wettest-places-in-the-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Atacama Desert, along this stretch of coast, is one of the driest regions in the world. The central and southern parts of Chile are subject to [[extratropical cyclone]]s, and most of the Argentine [[Patagonia]] is [[desert]]. In the [[Pampas]] of Argentina, Uruguay and South of Brazil the rainfall is moderate, with rains well distributed during the year. The moderately dry conditions of the Chaco oppose the intense rainfall of the eastern region of Paraguay. In the [[semiarid]] coast of the Brazilian Northeast the rains are linked to a monsoon regime.<ref name="Climate"/>

Important factors in the determination of climates are sea currents such as the [[Humboldt Current]] and [[Falkland Current]]. The [[South Equatorial Current|Equatorial Current]] of the South Atlantic strikes the coast of the Northeast where is divided into two others: the current of [[Brazil Current|Brazil]] and a coastal current that flows to the northwest towards the [[Antilles]] from where it turns northeast forming the most important and famous ocean current in the world, the [[Gulf Stream]].<ref name="Climate"/><ref name="Know.net">{{cite web|title=Apresentação da Corrente do Golfo|language=pt|trans-title=Presentation of the Gulf Stream|website=knoow.net|url=http://www.knoow.net/ciencterravida/geografia/correntegolfo.htm|access-date=26 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411062149/http://www.knoow.net/ciencterravida/geografia/correntegolfo.htm|archive-date=11 April 2015}}</ref>

=== Fauna ===
South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on Earth. It is home to many unique species of animals including the [[llama]], [[anaconda]], [[piranha]], [[jaguar]], [[vicuña]], and [[tapir]], and to one of the largest known insects in the world, the [[Titan beetle]]. The Amazon rainforests possess high [[biodiversity]], with Brazil estimated to contain 10% of Earth's [[species]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lewinsohn|first1=Thomas M|last2=Prado|first2=Paulo Inácio|date=7 June 2005|title=How Many Species Are There in Brazil?|journal=Conservation Biology|volume=19|issue=3|pages=619–624|doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00680.x|bibcode=2005ConBi..19..619L|s2cid=84691981}}</ref> 83% of South America's large mammals ([[megafauna]]) became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene around 11,000 years ago as part of the [[Quaternary extinction event]], among the highest of any continent, with the casualties including [[Smilodon|saber-toothed cats]], [[ground sloth]]s, [[glyptodont]]s, [[gomphothere]]s, the equines ''[[Hippidion]]'' and ''[[Equus neogeus]]'', and all remaining [[South American native ungulates]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Prado|first1=José L.|last2=Martinez-Maza|first2=Cayetana|last3=Alberdi|first3=María T.|date=May 2015|title=Megafauna extinction in South America: A new chronology for the Argentine Pampas|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018215000899|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume=425|pages=41–49|doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.026|bibcode=2015PPP...425...41P}}</ref>