South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern subregion of the Americas.
The history of South America is the study of the past, particularly the written record, oral histories, and traditions, passed down from generation to generation on the continent of South America. The continent continues to be home to indigenous peoples, some of whom built high civilizations prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 1400s and early 1500s. South America has a history that has a wide range of human cultures and forms of civilization. The Norte Chico civilization in Peru dating back to about 3500 BCE is the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the first six independent civilizations in the world; it was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids. It predated the Mesoamerican Olmec by nearly two millennia.
South American cuisine has many influences, due to the ethnic fusion of South America. The most characteristic are Native American, African, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Indian-South Asian. However, there is a mix of European, North American, and indigenous cuisines. The customs and food products greatly vary according to the physically distinct regions.
The region known as Hispanic America and historically as Spanish America or Castilian America is all the Spanish-speaking countries of the American continent. In all of these countries, Spanish is the main language - sometimes sharing official status with one or more indigenous languages or English, and Latin Catholicism is the predominant religion.
Latin American cuisine is the typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to many of the countries and cultures in Latin America. Latin America is a highly racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse with varying cuisines. Some items typical of Latin American cuisine include maize-based dishes arepas, empanadas, pupusas, tacos, tamales, tortillas and various salsas and other condiments. Sofrito, a culinary term that originally referred to a specific combination of sautéed or braised aromatics, exists in Latin American cuisine. It refers to a sauce of tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, garlic, onions and herbs. Rice, corn, pasta, bread, plantain, potato, yucca, and beans are also staples in Latin American cuisine.
This is articles is about lists of hospitals in South America. It contains links to the lists, number of articles in the category, and healthcare in each country, territory and dependency in South America.
Hinduism is a minority religion in South America, which is followed by even less than 1% of the total continent's population. Hinduism is found in several countries, but is strongest in the Indo-Caribbean populations of Guyana and Suriname. There are about 320,000 Hindus in South America, chiefly the descendants of Indian indentured laborers in the Guianas. There are about 185,000 Hindus in Guyana, 120,000 in Suriname, and some others in French Guiana. In Guyana and Suriname, Hindus form the second largest religion and in some regions and districts, Hindus form the majority. Though in recent times, due to influence of Hindu culture the number of Hindus converts have increased in other countries in South America, including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and others.
The Union of South American Nations (USAN), sometimes also referred to as the South American Union, abbreviated in Spanish as UNASUR and in Portuguese as UNASUL, is an intergovernmental regional organization. It once comprised twelve South American countries; as of 2019, most have withdrawn. It was set up by Hugo Chavez to counteract the influence of the United States in the region.
Latin Americans are the citizens of Latin American countries.
In South America, Indigenous peoples comprise the Pre-Columbian peoples and their descendants, as contrasted with people of European ancestry and those of African descent. In Spanish, indigenous peoples are referred to as pueblos indígenas, or pueblos nativos. The term aborigen is used in Argentina, and pueblos aborígenes is commonly used in Colombia. The English term Amerindian is often used in the Guianas. Latin Americans of mixed European and Indigenous descent are usually referred to as mestizos (Spanish) and mestiços (Portuguese), while those of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry are referred to as zambos.
Aspidosperma is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1824. It is native to South America, Central America, southern Mexico, and the West Indies.
As of 2017, South America has an estimated population of 418.76 million people.
The 2001 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Vila Olímpica in Manaus, Brazil, from May 18–20.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to South America.
The following lists events that happened during 2022 in South America.
