SOUTH AMERICA, a continent the esti mated area of which is, in round numbers, 7,300,000 square miles with an estimated popu lation of 57,000,000 in 1919. It is joined to Cen tral America by the Isthmus of Darien, the boundary-line between Colombia and the Re public of Panama being taken as its limit on the northwest. The westernmost point on its Pacific Coast is directly south of the peninsula of Florida; both the extreme northerly point, projecting into the Caribbean Sea, and, at the extreme south, the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, adjoin long. 70° W., which is also the longitude of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Thus, its Pacific Coast and one-half of its Caribbean Coast lie due south of the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Moreover, only a relatively small part of the great equatorial land-mass between lat. N. and lat. 25° S. is west of longitude 70°. The Atlantic coasts form an enormous angle reaching so far toward the east that sailing distances between Pernambuco and some of the European ports are practically equal to the sailing distance between New York and the same Brazilian city. In reality, then, South America, from the point of view of inhabitants of the United States, is Southeast ern America.
For the varied purposes of social intercourse and commerce, therefore, its eastern coasts be low the equator are as readily reached from Europe as from the great centres of population in the United States; and before the Great War this virtual equality in geographic situation was converted into marked advantage for Euro peans by the superior facilities for transporta tion and direct intercommunication between Europe and the especially important South American Atlantic ports, to say the least,— an advantage which was accentuated, so far as it concerned the nations of southwestern Europe, by ancient association, force of habit and essen tial community of tradition and language. The results were that a large part of the south eastern continent, while developing distinctively New World characteristics in many ways, still constantly received formative ideals and man ners, culture and its fashions, from West-Euro pean sources, and of course bestowed its trade in the same quarter. For studies of other causes which tended to produce similar effects, and for an account of changes wrought during the World War, see LATIN AMERICA.
Since the war ended, phases of readjustment to changed conditions in foreign relations, or of new developments in time-honored Ameri can connections, have naturally been most in evidence; and of such phases there are three which deserve special mention: First, a move ment the aim of which is to promote the peace and progress of the Western Hemisphere and to confirm Pan-American solidarity (compare Special Memorandum: American Questions and the Monroe Doctrine, issued by the Pan-Ameri can Union, Washington, April 1919) ; second, the admirable quality of the views expressed, and confirmed by resolution, in the First Ameri can Congress of Economic and Commercial Ex pansion, which was held at Montevideo, official representatives from all South American repub lics being in attendance, and which advocated the establishment of colleges or departments of economic expansion in colleges and schools, to the end that "the study and practical solution of economic problems may be intensified in the effort to cement Pan-America commercial friendship)); third, the actual state of foreign trade as between the United States and South America, an estimate by the National City Bank of New York showing, for the fiscal year 1919, imports from South America gaining about 150 per cent, compared with those of 1914; exports to South America about 225 per cent; the total trade of the United States with South America, including both imports and exports, which amounted only to $345,000,000 in 1914, being estimated by the same authority at $1,000,000, 000 in 1919.
The South American republics are Argen tina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Dependencies of European countries on the mainland are the three Guianas — British, Dutch and French. The Falkland Islands, which are included in the foregoing estimates of area and population, are British. For information in regard to each of the South American coun tries — its area, topography, mineral resources, agriculture, manufactures, weights and meas ures, money, banks, government (including the judiciary and the departmental, state or pro vincial governments), army and navy, finances (revenues, expenditures and publicdebt), foreign and domestic commerce, population, im migration, transportation, climate, flora and fauna, educational system , religion, history, literature and art, bibliography, etc.— see the articles devoted to the country in question, to its chief cities and political divisions; also the articles under the general caption Latin America. Important geographic features are described at greater length in separate articles, e.g., ANDES, and such features also form a part of the wider survey in the article AMERICA. For lists of standard works on South America, the reader is referred to bibliographies ap pended to the articles mentioned above.