Editing South America (section)

=== Populace ===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| caption_align = center
| direction = vertical
| width =
| header_background =
| header_align = center
| header = South American cities
| image1 = SP from Altino Arantes Building.jpg
| width1 = 200
| caption1 = [[São Paulo]]
| image2 = Buenos Aires Puerto Madero 13.jpg
| width2 = 200
| caption2 = [[Buenos Aires]]
| image3 = Urca, Rio de Janeiro - State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - panoramio (14).jpg
| width3 = 200
| caption3 = [[Rio de Janeiro]]
| image4 = Santiago de Chile (winter).jpg
| width4 = 200
| caption4 = [[Santiago]]
| total_width =
| alt1 =
}}

While Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia maintain the largest populations, large city populations are not restricted to those nations. The top ten largest South American metropolitan areas by population as of 2015, based on national censuses:

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Metro Area
!Population
!Area
!Country
|-
| [[Greater São Paulo|São Paulo]]
| 21,090,792
| {{convert|7947|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Brazil
|-
| [[Greater Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires]]
| 13,693,657
| {{convert|3830|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Argentina
|-
| [[Greater Rio de Janeiro|Rio de Janeiro]]
| 13,131,431
| {{convert|6744|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Brazil
|-
| [[Lima metropolitan area|Lima]]
| 9,904,727
| {{convert|2819|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Peru
|-
| [[Metropolitan Area of Bogotá|Bogotá]]
| 9,800,225
| {{convert|4200|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Colombia
|-
| [[Santiago Metropolitan Region|Santiago]]
| 6,683,852
| {{convert|15403|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Chile
|-
| [[Greater Belo Horizonte|Belo Horizonte]]
| 5,829,923
| {{convert|9467|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Brazil
|-
| [[Greater Caracas|Caracas]]
| 5,322,310
| {{convert|4715|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Venezuela
|-
| [[Greater Porto Alegre|Porto Alegre]]
| 4,258,926
| {{convert|10232|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Brazil
|-
| [[Brasília]]
| 4,201,737
| {{convert|56433|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| Brazil
|}

Five of the [[List of metropolitan areas in the Americas|top ten metropolitan areas]] are in Brazil. These metropolitan areas all have a population of above 4 million and include the [[Greater São Paulo|São Paulo metropolitan area]], [[Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area]], and [[Belo Horizonte metropolitan area]]. Whilst the majority of the largest metropolitan areas are within Brazil, Argentina is host to the second largest metropolitan area by population in South America: the [[Greater Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires metropolitan region]], with a population in excess of 13 million.

South America has been witness to the growth of [[Megalopolis|megapolitan areas]]. In Brazil four megaregions exist including the [[Expanded Metropolitan Complex of São Paulo]] with more than 32 million inhabitants. The others are the Greater Rio, Greater Belo Horizonte and [[Greater Porto Alegre]]. Colombia also has four megaregions which comprise 72% of its population, followed by Venezuela, Argentina and Peru which are also homes of megaregions.
{{Clear}}