The indigenous people of South America are called. Native Americans

The Indians who belong to a separate group are the indigenous population of America. They have inhabited the territory of the entire New World since the beginning of time and still live there. Despite the countless genocides, colonizations and other persecutions against them that were carried out by Europeans, they occupy a very significant place in each of the states of this country. Below in the article we will look at what the indigenous population of America is and in what numbers it is calculated. Photos of various subraces and representatives of certain tribes will allow you to more clearly understand this topic.

Habitat and abundance

The natives of the New World lived here in prehistoric times, but even today, in fact, little has changed for them. They unite into separate communities, continue to preach their religious dogmas and follow the traditions of their ancestors. Some representatives of the original Americanoid race assimilate with Europeans and completely adopt their way of life. Thus, you can meet a pure Indian or mestizo in any country in the northern, southern or central part of Novaya Zemlya. The total "Indian" population of America is 48 million people. Of these, 14 million live in Peru, 10.1 million in Mexico, 6 million in Bolivia. The next countries are Guatemala and Ecuador - 5.4 and 3.4 million people, respectively. 2.5 million Indians can be found in the USA, but in Canada there are half as many of them - 1.2 million. Oddly enough, in the vastness of Brazil and Argentina, such huge powers, there are not so many Indians left. The indigenous population of America in these places already numbers in the thousands and amounts to 700,000 and 600,000 people, respectively.

History of the appearance of tribes

According to scientists, representatives of the Americanoid race, despite all their differences from any other known to us, moved to their continent precisely from Eurasia. For many millennia (approximately 70-12 millennia BC), Indians came to the New World along the so-called Beringian Bridge, where it is now located. Then the non-indigenous population of America gradually mastered the new continent, starting from Alaska and ending with the southern shores present-day Argentina. After America was mastered by them, each individual tribe began to develop in its own direction. The general trends they observed were as follows. The Indians of South America honored the maternal line. Residents of the northern part of the continent were content with patriarchy. The tribes of the Caribbean tended to move towards a class society.

A few words about biology

From a genetic point of view, the indigenous population of America, as mentioned above, is not indigenous to these lands at all. Scientists consider Altai to be the ancestral home of the Indians, from where they left their colonies in distant, distant times in order to develop new lands. The fact is that 25 thousand years ago it was possible to get from Siberia to America by land; moreover, people probably considered all these lands to be a single continent. So the inhabitants of our region gradually settled throughout the northern part of Eurasia, and then moved to where they turned into Indians. The researchers came to this conclusion due to the fact that among the Altai aborigines the type of Y chromosome is identical in its mutations to the chromosome of the American Indian.

Northern tribes

We will not touch the tribes of the Aleuts and Eskimos, who occupy the subarctic zone of the continent, since they are a completely different racial family. The indigenous occupied the territory of what is now Canada and the United States, starting from the eternal glaciers and ending with the Gulf of Mexico. Many different cultures have developed there, which we will now list:

• The northern Indians who settled the upper part of Canada were the Algonquian and Athapaskan tribes. They hunted caribou and also fished.
• Northwestern tribes - Tlingit, Haida, Salish, Wakashi. They were engaged in fishing and sea hunting.
• California Indians are famous acorn gatherers. They also did regular hunting and fishing.
• The Woodland Indians occupied the entire eastern part of the modern United States. The indigenous population of North America here was represented by the Creeks, Algonquins, and Iroquois tribes. These people lived by settled agriculture.
• The Great Plains Indians are renowned wild bison hunters. There are countless tribes here, among which we will name only a few: Caddo, Crow, Osage, Mandan, Arikara, Kiowa, Apache, Wichita and many others.
• In the south of North America lived the Pueblo, Navajo and Pima tribes. These lands were considered the most developed, since the aborigines here were engaged in farming, using the method of artificial irrigation, and part-time raising livestock.

Caribbean

It is generally accepted that the indigenous people of Central America were the most advanced. It was in this part of the continent that the most complex slash-and-burn and irrigated farming systems developed at that time. Of course, the tribes of this region widely used irrigation, which allowed them to be content not with the simplest grain crops, but with the fruits of plants such as maize, legumes, sunflowers, pumpkin, agave, cocoa, and cotton. Tobacco was also grown here. The indigenous people on these lands were also engaged in cattle breeding (the Indians lived similarly in the Andes). Mostly llamas were in use here. We also note that they began to master metallurgy, and the primitive communal system was already moving to a class system, turning into a slave state. Tribes that lived in the Caribbean include the Aztecs, Mixtecs, Mayans, Purépechas, Totonacs and Zapotecs.

South America

Compared to the Totonacs and others, the indigenous population of South America was not so highly developed. The only exception can be the Inca Empire, which was located in the Andes and was inhabited by Indians of the same name. On the territory of modern Brazil lived tribes that practiced hoe farming and also hunted local birds and mammals. Among them are the Arawaks and Tupi-Guarani. The territory of Argentina was occupied by mounted guanaco hunters. The Yamana, Ona and Alakaluf tribes lived on Tierra del Fuego. They lived a very primitive life compared to their relatives, and were engaged in fishing.

Inca Empire

This is the greatest association of Indians that existed in the 11th-13th centuries in the territory of present-day Colombia, Peru and Chile. Before the arrival of Europeans, local residents already had their own administrative divisions. The empire consisted of four parts - Chinchaisuyu, Colasuyu, Antisuyu and Kuntisuyu, and each of them, in turn, was divided into provinces. The Inca Empire had its own statehood and laws, which were mainly presented in the form of punishments for certain atrocities. Their system of governing the country was most likely despotic-totalitarian. This state also had an army, there was a certain social system, over the lower layers of which control was exercised. The main achievement of the Incas is considered to be their giant highways. The roads they built on the slopes of the Andes reached 25 thousand kilometers in length. To move along them, llamas were used as pack animals.

Traditions and cultural development

The culture of the indigenous population of America is mainly their languages ​​of communication, many of which are still not completely decipherable. The fact is that each tribe had not just its own dialect, but its own autonomous language, which sounded only in oral speech and did not have a written language. The first alphabet in America appeared only in 1826 under the leadership of the leader of the Cherokee tribe, the Sequoyah Indian. Until this moment, the continent's aborigines used pictographic signs, and if they had to communicate with representatives of other settlements, they used gestures, body movements and facial expressions.

Indian deities

Despite the huge number of tribes that lived in different climates and regions, the beliefs of the indigenous population of America were very simple, and they can be combined into one whole. Most tribes in North America believed that the deity was a certain plane that was located far in the ocean. According to their legends, their ancestors lived on this plane. And those who committed a sin or were careless fell from it into the gaping void. In Central America, deities were given the appearance of animals, most often birds. The wise Incan tribes often considered their gods to be the prototypes of people who created the world and everything in it.

Modern Indian Religious Views

Nowadays, the indigenous people of the American continent no longer adhere to the religious traditions that were characteristic of their ancestors. Most of the population of North America now professes Protestantism and its varieties. The Indians and mestizos who live in Mexico and the southern part of the continent almost all adhere to strict Catholicism. Some of them become Jews. Only a few are still based on the views of their ancestors, and they keep this knowledge a huge secret from the white population.

Mythological aspect

Initially, all the fairy tales, legends and other folk works that belonged to the Indians could tell us about their life, their way of life, and their methods of obtaining food. These peoples sang songs of birds, wild mammals and predators, their brothers and parents. A little later, mythology acquired a slightly different character. The Indians developed myths about the creation of the world that are very similar to our biblical ones. It is noteworthy that in many stories of American indigenous peoples there is a certain deity - the Woman with Braids. She is simultaneously the personification of life and death, food and war, earth and water. She has no name, but references to her power are found in almost all ancient Indian sources.

Conclusion

We have already mentioned above that the so-called Indian population of America is 48 million, according to official data. These are the people who are registered in their country, who belong to the colonial society. If we take into account those Indians who still live in tribes, the figure will be much higher. According to unofficial data, over 60,000 representatives of the original Americanoid race live in America, who are found both in Alaska and Tierra del Fuego.

The population of South America is very diverse and colorful. It consists of representatives of a wide variety of races who, at different periods of history, mastered this continent. A characteristic feature is racial mixing, which is proceeding at a very rapid pace in all South American countries.

Population of mainland South America

The racial composition of the inhabitants of South America is very complex, and this is due to the peculiarities of the history of the development of the continent. More than 250 different peoples and nationalities live here, who have been in close interaction with each other for many years.

Representatives of three major races live in South America:

• equatorial (indigenous population - Indians);
• European (descendants of immigrants from European countries);
• Negroid (descendants of black slaves brought from African countries).

In addition to pure races, several mixed groups also live on the mainland:

• mestizos - a mixture of Europeans and Indians;
• mulattoes - a mixture of Europeans and Africans;
• sambo - a mixture of Indians and blacks.

It is noteworthy that during the colonial system, a special social hierarchy reigned in local society, dominated by Creoles - descendants of European conquerors, born in America. All mixed groups belonged to the lower classes.

History of development

A distinctive feature of the formation of the population of South America is its relative immaturity - only a few centuries. Before the continent was conquered by Spanish and Portuguese invaders in the late 15th century, it was home to Indian peoples and tribes who spoke the languages ​​of Quechua, Chibcha, Tupigua Rani and others. However, after the capture of the mainland by the Spaniards and Portuguese, the main population began to rapidly mix.

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Population distribution of South America

The average population density ranges from 10-25 people per 1 sq. km. This data differs only for French Guiana, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname - these regions are less populated than all the others.

The peculiarities of nature and climate are such that the population of the continent is uneven and unequal. Most people live in large cities. For example, in Argentina, per 1 sq. km there are more than 100 people, and in Patagonia this figure is 100 times less - only 1 person per 1 sq. km. km.

The least populated areas of the continent are its interior regions - the vast forests of the Amazon, as well as some areas of the Andes. Some of these spaces are completely deserted. This indicates poor development of much of South America.

Today, South America is a continent with a population of more than three hundred million people, whose population is constantly increasing. Due to the difficult circumstances of the history of the “conquest” of America, there is a complex and multinational ethnic composition in which racial characteristics are significantly mixed.

Tribes of ancient Indians came to the South American continent more than 20 thousand years ago from North America, gradually settling throughout the continent. Then, in the 16th century, the era of European colonialism began, first the Portuguese and Spaniards arrived here, and a little later immigrants from other European countries - Germans, British, French, etc. The indigenous population of the country - the South American Indian tribes - were brutally exterminated, their ancient culture was destroyed, ancient cities, temples and sanctuaries were destroyed. In subsequent years, after most of the Indian people were thoughtlessly destroyed, a large number of blacks were brought from the African continent as slaves. The result of such a rapid and rather bloody settlement of South America is the variegated ethnic composition of the continent.

Indigenous people in the pre-Columbian era

At the time when the Europeans “discovered” the New World for themselves, the indigenous populations of both continents were at different stages of development, and if in the north of America the tribes collected mushrooms and berries and lived in a primitive communal system, then in the territory of Central and South America, the Indian tribes have already created states and entire civilizations, built class relations and created unique monuments of culture, science and architecture, which later became real phenomena and mysteries for all the scientific minds of the world

The tribes that lived east of the Andes hunted and collected gifts of nature, were at a fairly low level of development, and practiced the basics of a primitive communal system.

(An ancient vanishing tribe)

Highly developed Indian tribes who lived in the mountainous regions of the Andes and on the Pacific coast (modern territory of Colombia, Peru, Chile), they created here the first states with developed agriculture and livestock breeding, crafts, various applied arts and scientific knowledge developed here. These are the ancient civilizations of the Incas, Mayans, Chavin, Mochica cultures, etc.

The inhabitants of the extreme southern part of the South American continent, who lived on the archipelago of the Tierra del Fuego islands (the modern province of Argentina and part of Chile) - Fuegians, these are the Ona, Alakaluf, Yagan tribes, by the time of European expansion they were at a low level of development, wore animal skins, had stone and bone weapons, hunted guanacos (the ancestor of the domestic llama) and fished in the ocean on fragile boats made of birch bark.

(Men of the Amazon Valley Tribe)

A step higher in development were the Indian tribes who lived in the valley of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in the center and north of the continent (tribes of the linguistic groups of the Arawaks, Caribs, Tupi-Guarani), who were engaged in hunting, weapons - bows and pipes with poisoned arrows (the famous poison curare), they grew corn, cassava, tobacco, cotton, a form of social organization - a clan community.

In the north of the Andes (modern Colombia) in the valley of the Bogota River, the Chibcha people organized the Indian state of the Chibcha-Muisca peoples with a fairly developed culture; within modern Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador there was a culture of the Quechua Indian tribe.

Culture and life of the ancient Indians

(Iroquois Tribe)

The most famous and studied in detail is the culture of the ancient Inca Empire or Tauntinsuyu (“four connected cardinal directions”), which was formed in the second century AD through wars of conquest, when one of the mountain tribes conquered vast neighboring lands, where tribes such as the Aymara and Keuar lived. , Huallacán, etc. and united them all into one powerful Inca state. In the 14th and 15th centuries, which marked the era of aggressive European colonization, the Inca Empire occupied vast territories of today's Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, parts of Argentina, Colombia and Chile. The specially built capital of the state is Cusco, the language is Quechua, the first ruler (Supreme Inca) is Manco Capac.

(Iroquois Warriors)

Like the Roman Empire, the main force of this power was the army; the entire people were engaged in providing it, regularly paying taxes to the treasury for its maintenance. Conquered peoples were allowed to believe in their own deities, but worship of the Inca's supreme sun god, Inti, was obligatory. The population lived in stone houses built from rocks such as limestone, basalt, diorite, etc. The houses of ordinary residents were simple and modest, but the houses of the nobility, priests and rulers were decorated with gold and silver plates. The architecture of the ancient Incas is distinguished by its severity and asceticism; palaces and temples are overwhelming with their power and grandeur; for their construction, huge monolithic blocks were used, tightly adjusted in size and not held together by any mortar. The ensemble of temples of Coricancha (“Golden Temple”) in the Inca capital of Cusco is the pinnacle of Inca architecture. It contained a golden altar and a golden disk of the sun god Inti; it was destroyed and plundered by the Spaniards. Nowadays the Cathedral of Santa Domingo is located on its ruins.

(Machu Picchu - ancient Inca city on top of a mountain overlooking the Urubamba River valley)

The ancient Incas were skilled artisans, they mined metal ores and knew how to process gold, bronze, and made amazingly beautiful jewelry, which was later melted down into gold bars and taken to Spain by the conquering conquistadors. The Incas did not have writing as such; it is believed that they transmitted and stored information using a special knotted letter “khipu”.

The entire population of the empire was divided into social classes and professions; the basis of the Inca social pyramid was the concept of aylyu, consisting of family clans that lived on the same land and cultivated it together, engaged in common livestock breeding and shared the harvest among everyone. The head of state was the One Inca - the supreme ruler and chief priest of the Sun god.

At the beginning of the 16th century, when the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro came to the lands of the Empire, due to an acute internecine struggle for power, it was already on the verge of collapse, was quickly conquered and plundered, and the ancient Inca civilization ceased to exist. Today all that remains of it are the ruins of the ancient city of Machu Picchu in the mountains of Peru.

Also, the Mayan and Aztec cultures are considered the most ancient civilizations on the territory of modern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, states of Latin America.

(Ancient Maya)

The Maya are the clearest example of the Indian pre-Culomb civilization, which remains a mystery and a scientific phenomenon to everyone today. It began its existence at the beginning of our era, and by the time the conquistadors arrived it was already in deep decline. This unique people, existing in Stone Age conditions and not knowing how to mine and process metal, not having means of transportation and animals for transporting goods, developed a surprisingly accurate solar calendar, had complex hieroglyphic writing, predicted eclipses of the Moon and the Sun, and calculated the movements of the planets. It was the Mayans who created unique masterpieces of construction art, which are still known throughout the world (the Mayan pyramids in the ancient cities of Teotihuacan, Cholula and Chechen Itza). The Mayan civilization died in the 11th century, even before the arrival of the conquistadors, who found the remnants of their former power; why this happened is still unknown.

(Temple of the Inscriptions of the Ancient Mayan Civilization - visualization)

The Aztec civilization existed in what is now Mexico between the 14th and 16th centuries AD. The capital of the ancient Aztec state was Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco, which was a huge city located on several islands in the middle of lakes, connected by dams. Excellent stone roads were laid everywhere, its streets were intersected by canals, stone palaces and temples were located in green gardens. The Aztecs were excellent woodcarvers, sculptors, craftsmen and jewelers. Unfortunately, the legacy of this ancient civilization has practically not survived to this day; only a few masterpieces that miraculously escaped destruction at the hands of the Spanish conquistadors found their way to Europe and became public knowledge.

Traditions and customs

Customs and traditions played a huge role in the life of almost every Indian people who lived on the territory of the South American continent in ancient times.

(Life of the ancient Mayans)

For example, the Mayans believed that the birth of a child was a sign of the special favor of the gods, especially the moon goddess; the priests chose the name of the child, calculated his horoscope and predicted the future. Among the Mayans, cross-eyedness was a sign of beauty; in order for a child to become cross-eyed, a bead was attached to his forehead, hanging over his eyes, which the child should look at more often. Also, with the help of a plank tied in front, the forehead lengthened and the head became flatter, this was required by the Mayan canons of beauty, and also required a high position in society.

The ball game was very popular; it was of a religious nature, carried out with great ceremonies and careful preparation.

One of the terrible and bloody rituals of this people was the ritual of sacrifice, when a human sacrifice was made to please some god, tearing out the heart and throwing the body from a high pyramid.

(Warrior of the ancient Inca tribe)

In the Inca religion there was a whole pantheon of gods: the creator of the world and all living things, Kon Tisci Viracocha, after him came the sun god Inti, Ilyapa - the weather god, the moon goddess - Mama Quilla and others. The Incas performed a great variety of religious and ritual ceremonies, subject to the agricultural calendar or dates dedicated to the life of the ruling royal family. Holidays and celebrations were held in the central square of the city of Cusco, which was called Uyakapata (“Sacred Terrace”), where the ruler’s palace was also located; after his death, it turned into a sanctuary, where the embalmed mummy of the deceased was located. The new Supreme Inca lived in another palace, built personally for him.

Modern life of the peoples of the South American continent

(Puno city in Peru)

The current population of South America is 387.5 million people. It is characterized by the predominance of mixed ethnic groups: mestizo (the result of mixed barques of Europeans and Indians), mulattoes (marriage of Europeans with the Negroid race), Sambo (marriage of Indians with the Negroid race).

In Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador and Venezuela, mestizos predominate, descendants of mixed marriages between indigenous people (Indians) and Spanish settlers. In Peru and Bolivia the majority are Indians. In the states of central South America in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, the majority of citizens are of African descent, the minority are descendants of the inhabitants of the European continent. But most of them, especially those from Spain and Italy, live in Argentina and Uruguay. In Chile there are many immigrants from European countries such as Germany, England, France, Austria, Greece, Scandinavia, etc. The official language of most countries on the mainland is Spanish, in Brazil it is Portuguese, in Peru the Indian language Quechua is official along with Spanish.

The South American continent is a unique region of the planet, in which powerful natural beauty is combined with a very multifaceted culture and life philosophy followed by representatives of indigenous tribes. It is the Indians of South America, once “discovered” to the world by sailors from the Old World, who are the bearers of a unique culture and ideology, many aspects of which still cannot be explained by the best scientists in the world.

In contrast, the tribes of South America have much more social and political opportunities for self-realization. The Latin American continent has become famous for the fact that the local Indians have the right not only to live and develop freely, but also to actively participate in the political and social life of their countries. Many representatives of South American tribes occupy leadership positions of national importance. For example, Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, was able to take the post of President of Bolivia, and a representative of the Quechua tribe, Ollanta Humala, received active support from citizens and became the President of the Republic of Peru. And such examples are not isolated, which indicates the progressive development of the consciousness of the indigenous peoples of the continent, who today play the same important role as the immigrants from European countries inhabiting the continent.

Tribes of South America (Indians)

The most numerous tribes include the Aymara, Quechua (descendants of the ancient Incas), Mapuche, Guarani, Tehuelche, Chibcha (Muisca), Botocudo, Warao, Shipibo-Conibo and many others. Conventionally, the concept of “tribes of South America” also includes indigenous peoples living in the territory of the so-called Mayans, Aztecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Totonacs, Purépechas, etc.

1. Aymara- are descendants of the ancient Inca people. The Aymara inhabit mainly the western part of the continent - the highlands in western Bolivia (), southern Peru, northern Chile. The total Aymara population is more than 3.8 million people. Most of them live in cities and are engaged in mining.

Aymara tribe

2. Quechua- a tribe related to the Aymara of South America, the number of which, according to various estimates, is 19-25 million people. The bulk of these Indians live in Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia. The main occupations of these people today are agriculture and cattle breeding, as well as hired labor in the mining industry. Some Quechuas work as domestic servants.

Quechua tribe

3. Guarani- one of the few tribes in the region that still continues to live in accordance with ancient foundations and customs. Today, the bulk of this people live in Paraguay and in a number of neighboring countries. The Guarani, not experienced in the benefits of civilization, do not make good contact with “progressive” people, and some of them do not want to communicate with the outside world at all and may resist in case of danger.

Guarani tribe

4. Mapuche (Araucanians)- a people in Chile and Peru, the total number of which is estimated at 1.5 million people. Modern Araucanians are supporters of a Creole-type culture. United into communities, they lead a subsistence economy and are practically not integrated into the national economy of their countries. Their main activities are sheep breeding, cattle breeding, horse breeding, wheat and potato cultivation, and crafts. Some Mapuche representatives are employed in the coal mining industry.

Mapuche tribe (Araucanians)

5. Shipibo-konibo- a tribe of Indians, formed from several nations, whose number is approximately 30 thousand people. Today, these people inhabit the Amazonian jungle in Peru and are mainly engaged in floodplain farming, fishing and beer production, some have mastered the art of transport along rivers.

Shipibo-Konibo Tribe

6. Varao- a tribe whose representatives today range from 20 to 36 thousand people inhabiting the northeastern part of Venezuela, as well as some regions of Guyana and Suriname. Varao prefer to settle along the banks of rivers, so their way of life is closely connected with the water element. The Warao Indians are famous as excellent craftsmen in making canoes, which they build for transportation along the Orinoco and other rivers. The main activities are fishing, hunting, gardening, gathering and crafts.

Warao tribe

7. Botokudo- a small tribe of South American Indians, whose representatives number only a few hundred people. They live in the eastern part of Brazil in Indian reservations and small villages. The appearance of these people is very remarkable. In the photo you can see massive round jewelry inserted into the lower lip and earlobes. Today only women wear such jewelry, but in the past similar customs also extended to men.

Botocudo Tribe

Video: tribes of South America (Indians).

More than 300 million people live in South America. The population is growing very quickly. The population is characterized by a mixture of racial characteristics of people. The very complex ethnic composition of the population is explained by the history of the settlement of the mainland.

The ancient Indians came here from North America almost 20 thousand years ago. Their numerous tribes populated almost the entire continent. Indian peoples created ancient civilizations. The conquest of the mainland by Europeans began in the 16th century. The first settlers were the Spaniards and Portuguese, later - immigrants from other European countries (Germans, Italians, etc.). The conquest of the continent by Europeans brought untold misfortunes to its indigenous population. The monuments of the ancient Indian civilization were destroyed and looted, the Inca state was destroyed, and millions of Indians died. In the 16th – 19th centuries, millions of black slaves were brought from Africa to work on plantations in South America. As a result of such settlement of the mainland, the mixing of the newcomer population with each other and with the indigenous peoples, the composition of the population acquired extraordinary complexity.

In our time, a mixed population predominates: mulattoes are descendants from marriages of Europeans with blacks, mestizo are descendants of marriages of Europeans with blacks, mestizos are descendants of marriages of Europeans with Indians, sambo are descendants of marriages of Indians with blacks. New nationalities and nations were formed, whose lives combine European, Indian and African (Negro) cultures.

Most of the continent's inhabitants speak Spanish, and Brazil speaks Portuguese; some Indian languages ​​have also been preserved. For example, in Peru, the Indian language Quechua, along with Spanish, is the official language. Indians live in almost all countries, there are especially many of them in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Linguistically, South America, together with Central America, is called Latin America, since the majority of the population speaks languages ​​of Latin origin (Romance group).

South America is populated extremely unevenly. Most of the population lives on the Atlantic coast, in the pampas, in some areas of the Andes, where the Inca state once existed. More than half the continent's population lives in cities. Three are among the ten largest cities in the world by population: Sao Papulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro. There are 14 states within South America. Most countries were colonies of Spain and Portugal and achieved independence at the beginning of the 19th century.

The countries of South America belong to the group of developing countries. They differ from each other in size, geographical location, natural resources, population size and composition, and degree of economic development.

The largest country on the continent and in the world is Brazil, the most economically developed. Countries with significant area and resources include Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Uruguay. Chile also has a developed economy. Relatively recently, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago freed themselves from colonial dependence. To this day, France remains in possession of the mainland, its “overseas department” is Guiana. The countries of the continent are grouped by natural features. There are the so-called Laplatan and Andean countries.