South Americans are the inhabitants of South America, a continent of 17.8 million square kilometres in the Western and largely Southern Hemisphere, bordered by the Pacific to the west, the Atlantic to the north and east, and the Drake Passage to the south.
The continent comprises twelve sovereign nations — Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela — plus dependent and internal territories including French Guiana and the Falkland Islands. As of 2021 the population was estimated above 434 million, ranking fifth globally. Brazil accounts for nearly half that total, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru. Most people live along the western or eastern coasts; the interior and far south remain sparsely settled. The Andes dominate the west, while the east holds both highlands and vast lowlands drained by the Amazon, Orinoco and Paraná. The continent’s cultural fabric reflects centuries of interaction among Indigenous peoples, European colonisers and African populations brought as slaves.
