The political map of South America with countries is available here for all political geography enthusiasts. The map would provide you with the full details of South America’s political structure.
South America is the world’s fourth-largest continent after North America in the printable world map. It lies prominently in the Southern hemisphere, as the Southern subcontinent of America. The Continent contains nearly 6% of the world’s total population. It has significant countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, etc., in its political zone.
So, please get to know more about the overall political zone structure of South America here on our political map of South America with countries. Users can print the map in PDF format and share it with others.
Table of Contents
Political Map of South America with Countries:
About South America
Map of South America Political
Dependencies
Political Map of South America with Countries Labeled:
South America Political Map with Countries and Capitals:
Geography of South America
Landforms
Largest Islands
Climate
Flora and Fauna
Religion
Languages
Political Map of South America with Countries:
There are 14 official countries in South America on the current date. The Continent contains a list of all politically powerful countries. Our map here provides clear pictures of the political boundaries of all these 14 countries. So, users will be able to understand the physical structure of each South American country. The political map intends to show the legal statutory of each South American country. This is an imaginary line that divides the two particular South American countries.
Brazil is the largest country in South America, containing 8,515,799 square kilometers. Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers. Brazil borders nearly every country in South America, excluding only Ecuador and Chile. The land area of Brazil represents 47.3% of South America’s total land area. Suriname is the smallest country in South America. The country covers a total of 163,820 square kilometers. South America has a capacity of 12 countries and three dependencies.
About South America
South America is found in the western hemisphere. Most of the continent is in the southern hemisphere, although some parts of the northern part of the continent fall in the northern hemisphere. The section in the north of the hemisphere includes Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, parts of Brazil, Ecuador, and nearly all of Colombia. The Isthmus of Panama separates North American and South America, where the Darién Mountains are considered the dividing line between the two continents. Sometimes, the dividing line is considered to be the Panama Canal. By some classifications, South America is seen as a subcontinent of the Americas.
South America is found in the western hemisphere. Most of the continent is in the southern hemisphere, although some parts of the northern part of the continent fall in the northern hemisphere. The section in the north of the hemisphere includes Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, parts of Brazil, Ecuador, and nearly all of Colombia. The Isthmus of Panama separates North American and South America, where the Darién Mountains are considered the dividing line between the two continents. Sometimes, the dividing line is considered to be the Panama Canal. By some classifications, South America is seen as a subcontinent of the Americas.
South America has an area of 17,840,000 km2, or almost 12% of Earth’s total land area. By land area, South America is the world’s fourth-largest continent after Asia, Africa, and North America. South America is almost twice as big as Europe by land area and is marginally larger than Russia. South America has a coastline that measures around 25,427 km. There are four different time zones in South America: UTC -5, UTC -4, UTC -3, and UTC -2.
South America has a population of more than 420,458,044, with a population density of 21 people per km2. With 208.2 million people, the most populated country in South America is Brazil, followed by Colombia with 49.6 million people and Argentina with 43.5 million people. São Paulo, Brazil and Lima, Peru are the biggest cities in South America by population, boasting 12.0 million and 8.8 million people, respectively. Other major cities include Bogotá, Colombia (7.8 million), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (6.5 million), and Santiago, Chile (5.5 million).
Map of South America Political
Get to explore the political map of South America with countries. The map clearly defines the borders of all the respective countries of South America. So, with the map, users can find out the political purview of primarily South American resources. It includes the oceans, rivers, and other significant landmarks. Users will be able to check out the administrative boundaries of the respective regions. It may be beneficial for the students to understand the whole political structure.
Dependencies
- Falkland Islands
- French Guiana
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Several trade agreements exist within South America. Mercosur is an international agreement that exists to promote free trade between certain countries on the continent. Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its associate members are Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname. The Treaty of Asunción founded Mercosur in 1991 and later was amended by the Treaty of Ouro Preto in 1994.
Other organizations include the Union of South America Nations, which consists of 12 countries and has headquarters in Quito, Ecuador. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America is an organization that seeks the social, political, and economic integration of countries in both Latin America and the Caribbean. Certain South American countries are also members of the Pacific Alliance, the Organization of American States, the Andean Community, and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States.
Political Map of South America with Countries Labeled:
If you are facing a problem in finding the country on the South America map, then we have got the solution for you. We have this political map of South America with countries labeled on it. With this map, you can quickly identify and mark any country in South America. Moreover, you can also learn about the political structure of every country on the political map of South America with countries. So, you would be able to know the actual physical purview of one government from another. The boundaries between the two countries define the political structure of each Nation.
South America Political Map with Countries and Capitals:
Get a clear picture of South America’s countries and capitals and their political boundaries here. Our map simplifies the political purview of each South American government and money. Users can learn about the administrative and political boundaries of countries and cities. Subsequently, they will be able to differentiate one country’s political borders from the other. Likewise, they will be able to identify one capital city from the other in the context of administrative boundaries. So, feel free to print the map from here and help your kids learn about South America. They can therefore use the map in their school learning of South America’s political map.
Geography of South America
The topography of South America resembles a bowl – it has large mountains around its periphery and a relatively flat interior. The continent consists of lowlands, highlands, and the Andes mountain range, the most extended globally.
Landforms
Andes Mountains: The Andean Mountains, or the Andes, stretch for nearly 7,000 km across the continent, from top to bottom. The mountain range passes through Venezuela, Ecuador, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. The tallest peak in the Andes is Aconcagua in Argentina, measuring 6,960.8 meters. It is the tallest mountain found outside of Asia.
Amazon Basin: The Amazon River, which flows from west to east across the north-central portion of South America, is the world’s largest river in terms of discharge volume. By some definitions, the Amazon River is also the longest in the world – while the Nile River is generally considered the world’s longest, some studies suggest an alternative source for the Amazon River, which would make it the world’s longest. The Amazon Basin (Amazonia) is covered by the largest tropical rain forest in the world, and running through its heart is the Amazon River and its more than 1,000 tributaries, seven of them more than 1,000 miles in length. Measurable rain falls on an average of 200 days a year here, and total rainfall often approaches 100 inches per year.
Atacama Desert: Sparsely populated and positioned high into the Andes of Chile, this somewhat small desert (or plateau) is a cold place and one of the few deserts on Earth that doesn’t receive any rain. It’s approximately 100 miles wide and 625 miles long. The landscape is barren and covered with small borax lakes, lava flow remnants and saline deposits.
Brazilian Highlands: The Brazilian Highlights cover about 1,930,511 square miles in eastern, central, and southern Brazil. The highlands have an average elevation of 1,000 meters above sea level. Due to extensive geographical coverage, the highlands are subdivided into the Atlantic, Southern and Central plateaus, each with different climatic conditions and flora and fauna.
Largest Islands
Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego: Chile’s Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is the largest island in South America. It covers 18,530 square miles and has a population of over 100,000 people.
Marajó: The second largest of all South American islands is the island of Marajó, which is in Brazil. Marajó covers 15,500 square miles.
Bananal Island: Bananal Island, also in Brazil, is the third-largest island in South America, covering 7,398.59 square miles.
Climate
South America is home to various climate classifications, from equatorial to tundra. In the north of the continent, near Colombia and Venezuela, weather conditions are generally wet and humid. The same thing goes for areas close to the Equator, including the Amazon Rainforest. Trade winds regulate temperatures in the northeast of the continent, meaning that the climates in Suriname, French Guiana, and Guyana are considerably more relaxed than their neighbors to the west.
In areas of northern Argentina and Paraguay, which fall near the Tropic of Capricorn, rainfall is sparse, and temperatures tend to be warm. The continent’s west coast, particularly Chile, tends to be dry and hot in the summer, with snowfall on the mountains in the winter. In the extreme south of Argentina, there is a subarctic climate. As a general rule, the further south you travel, the cooler the temperatures are (although temperatures can be pretty low in the mountainous regions of the continent as well).
Flora and Fauna
South America is highly biodiverse, with numerous unique species of flora and fauna. Some of the most well-known animals amazing to South America include the world’s largest rodent, the capybara, the world’s most giant flying bird, the Andean condor, and one of the world’s most giant butterflies blue morpho. Five South American countries – namely Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela – are recognized as “megadiverse”. A megadiverse country is a country that is home to the majority of the world’s extant species and has a significant number of endemic species.
There are several active territory disputes in South America. Some of these include Guayana Esequiba, which has Guyanese administration but is claimed by Venezuela. The Falkland Islands are currently administered as an Overseas British Territory and claimed by Argentina. Both Colombia and Venezuela now claim the Gulf of Venezuela. The gulf is an essential link between the Caribbean Sea and Lake Maracaibo, the latter of which contains a large amount of crude oil in its basin.
Religion
South America is predominantly a continent of Christians. However, nearly half of the continent’s population proclaims itself to be non-practising. The countries claiming the most Christians are Paraguay (96%), Ecuador (93%), Bolivia (93%), and Venezuela (91%). The countries claiming the highest non-religious adherents are Uruguay (51%), Chile (30%), and Colombia (22%). Other minority religions in the South include Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Baha’i, and Shinto. Every country in South America recognises the separation of church and state.
Languages
South America is a multilingual continent. By total population, the most popular languages are Portuguese and Spanish. Portuguese is spoken chiefly in Brazil, the most populated country on the continent. Spanish is spoken by the second-highest number of people in South America and is the majority language in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Bolivia. French is spoken in the overseas department of France, French Guiana. Dutch is spoken in Suriname. Guyana is the only country in South America with English as the official language.
A significant number of indigenous languages are also spoken in South America. The most commonly spoken indigenous language is Quechua, followed by Guarani and Aymara. In countries in the northern part of the continent, such as Peru, Ecuador and even Bolivia, Quechua languages are more common. In Argentina and Bolivia, especially in Paraguay, Guarani languages are most often spoken. Other indigenous languages include Aymara, spoken in Bolivia and Peru, and Wayuu, spoken in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela. Mapudungun is the name of a language spoken in Chile and Argentina.