South America has become a must see travel destination. Thinking about a South America Adventure or just an escape from the ordinary? You will find a wide range of natural and man made wonders available in South America. The continent has almost everything for the adventure seeking traveler. South America travel will take you to some of the most diverse and spectacular places on Earth. Exotic beaches, far reaching jungles or magnificent cities new and old are waiting to be explored.
South America is home to the Amazon Jungle, the worlds largest rain forest. Stretching the entire continent of South America are the Andes Mountain, as some of the planet’s highest mountain’s the Andes are also the Earth’s most diverse and spectacular mountain range. The world’s second largest waterfall, Iguazu in northern Argentina is only surpassed by South Africa’s Victoria Falls. Venezuela holds claim to the highest waterfall, Angels Falls. The southern portion of Peru and northern Chile is home to the planet’s driest desert, Atacama Desert. La Paz has the title of the highest capital as well as Lake Titicaca being the world’s highest commercially navigable waterway. Galapagos Islands just off of Ecuador’s Pacific Coast is world known for its vast amount of endemic species.
Located in the Southern Hemisphere the continent is also considered as part of the Western Hemisphere. The continent of South America is the 4th largest land mass behind Asia, Africa and North America. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Caribbean to the north, the continent is considered to be separated from North America by the Isthmus of Panama connecting to Colombia. Cape Horn is the southernmost point of Chile as well as the continent and is bordered by the turbulent waters of the Straits of Magellan.
South America’s population as of 2005 was 371 million people, making the continent the 5th largest behind, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Sao Paulo Brazil is South America’s largest city with over 20 million people with Buenos Aires Argentina at 13 million people.
Portuguese and Spanish make up wards of 90% of the languages spoken on the continent. Brazil, the largest country with 50% of the population of the 13 countries, speaks Portuguese. French, Quechua, Aymara, English and German are also spoken throughout the continent.
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