South America is located in the Southern Hemisphere between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Following is an overview of South America.

South America is defined as all the land south of the Panama Canal. The stark figures on South America categorize it as a middle of the pack type of content. Covering roughly 6.9 million square miles, it is the fourth largest continent covering approximately 3.5 percent of the surface of our planet. From a population standpoint, South America is home to roughly 370 million people, which makes it the fifth most populated continent.

South America was named by Westerners after the Italian Merchant, Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first to suggest the landmass was not part of the East Indies. A flamboyant writer, Vespucci went by Americus Vespucci when writing. Although there is much controversy about his authenticity, the new landmass discovered by Europeans was given the feminine version of his pen name