Aptly named South America, the region falls geographically to the south of North America with the two being connected by the Isthmus of Panama which is a thin strip of land between the Caribbean Sea. Historically South America was thought to be joined to Africa, 135 million years ago, before the great drift broke them apart.

Some fascinating facts about South America are:

• It consists of 13 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

• South America covers around one-eighth of the earth’s surface. Its population according to the 1995 census was 320 million and is estimated to reach 452 million by 2025.

• Almost 3 of the world’s megacities are part of South America: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Rio will be hosting the 2014 FIFA world cup.

• A large part of South America is covered by the Amazon basin which is so named because it is irrigated by the Amazon River and has magnificent forests and  maximum variety of flora and fauna even though majority of it is still unexplored. Climate change poses the biggest threat to Amazon which will take away from the economic growth of South America.

• Types of vegetation available in South America are tropical moist forests which are semi or fully evergreen, dry forests, open grassy savannah, desert and arid steppes, temperate evergreen forests and Mediterranean climate region.

• Poverty has been rampant in South America but the last few years have seen some progress with poverty declining from 49% to 31%.

• There have also been major political developments with free elections and governments becoming more responsive. Saying that individual security is still a big threat to the citizens and some countries are still banning political rights.

• Drug trade is a big hindrance to the economic growth of South America.

• The US Aid which is active in South America is most focussed on 3 factors: fighting the drug trade and trying to reduce the violence associated with it while trying to make cities and towns safer to live in, supporting political rights leaders in fighting political restrictions and bans and protecting natural resources.

• The US Department of Commerce is equally dedicated to help build south financially and has started a ‘œLook South’ initiative where they help businesses expand across South America and explore opportunities in emerging markets.

• Also known as Latin Americans, they are famous for their dances and spicy foods.

• Many famous dance styles of South America now practiced all over the world are cha cha, rumba, salsa, tango, samba, mambo, lambada, waltz, merengue etc. Many of these have Spanish and African influences because of the diverse population in South America.

• Another thing South Americans are passionate about is football and boasts of the most famous players like Pele, Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Diego Maradona etc.

Other than football, the destruction of the Amazon forest for building roads and building brings South America to the news. This is an act criticised by many as it will bring about the death and ruin of a lot of earth natural resources and life.