南美洲(South America)
西半球大陆。濒加勒比海、大西洋和太平洋。隔德雷克海峡与南极洲相望，巴拿马地峡与北美洲相连。面积17,814,000平方公里。人口约308,770,000（1993）。南美洲的人口由四个主要种族组成︰美洲印第安人，他们为该大陆前哥伦布时期的居民；伊比利亚人，西班牙人和葡萄牙人，他们征服并统治该大陆，自16世纪至19世纪；非洲人，他们是贩运来的奴隶；以及该地区独立後来自海外的移民，多为德国人和南欧人，但也有黎巴嫩人、南亚人和日本人。人口中90%为基督徒，其中85%为天主教徒。除巴西（葡萄牙语），法属圭亚那（法语），盖亚那（英语）以及苏利南（荷兰语）之外，整个南美洲的官方语言是西班牙语。也有讲印第安语。南美洲有三个主要地理区︰西部为安地斯山脉，极易发生地震，沿该洲的太平洋海岸延伸；阿空加瓜山为西半球最高峰；北部和东部为高原，与低地沈积盆地相接，其中包括亚马逊河流域，为世界最大的河流流域；以及阿根廷东部的彭巴草原，该草原肥沃的土壤，是南美洲产量最高的农业区之一。重要的水系有亚马逊河和奥利诺科河。4/5的南美洲在热带地区，也有温带、乾燥带和寒带地区。约7%的南美洲土地为可耕地，主要种植玉米、小麦和水稻。约有1/4土地为常年牧场。约一半土地被森林覆盖，主要是广阔但日益减少的亚马逊雨林。南美洲的雨林、高原和沼泽地中生活的动物几乎占全世界全部已知种类的1/4。南美洲的铁矿床约占世界总储量的1/8，和世界铜储量的1/4。开发这些和数种其他矿产，在许多地区都很重要。经济作物包括香蕉、柑橘、糖和咖啡。沿太平洋产鱼。大多数国家属自由市场经济或国营和私营企业共存的混合型经济。南美洲大多数国家的人民收入贫富不均，在为数众多的穷人与极少数富裕家庭之间，是人数日渐增多但仍占少数的中产阶级。
亚洲血统的狩猎者与采集者可能至少在12,000年前最先来到南美洲。约西元前2600年的农业发展开始了一段文化迅速演进的时期，最主要的文化发展出现在安地斯山区中部，以印加帝国（参阅Inca）的建立达到顶峰。1498年，哥伦布登上南美洲大陆，从此开始了欧洲人对该地区的探险。西班牙和葡萄牙探险家开启了居住点。根据「托德西利亚斯条约」，葡萄牙获得该区东部，其余部分归属西班牙。原住民因患病死亡，甚多生存者大都沦为农奴。1880年代南美洲大陆除圭亚那以外，完全摆脱了欧洲人统治。大多数国家采用共和政体。社会和经济不均或边界纠纷导致许多国家发生周期性革命。第二次世界大战後，所有南美洲国家都加入了联合国。1948年，除盖亚那以外所有南美洲国家都加入了美洲国家组织。
English version：
South America
Continent, Western Hemisphere. The world's fourth-largest continent, it is bounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Antarctica by the Drake Passage and is joined to North America by the Isthmus of Panama. Area: 6,878,000 sq mi (17,814,000 sq km). Pop., 1993 est.: 308,770,000. Four main ethnic groups have populated South America: American Indians, who were the continent's pre-Columbian inhabitants; the Iberians, Spanish, and Portuguese who dominated the continent from the 16th to the early 19th century; the Africans imported as their slaves; and the post-independence immigrants from overseas, mostly Germans and southern Europeans but also Lebanese, South Asians, and Japanese. The people are 90% Christian, with about 85% of those Roman Catholic. Spanish is the official language everywhere except in Brazil (Portuguese), French Guiana (French), Guyana (English), and Suriname (Dutch); some Amerindian languages are spoken. South America has three major geographic regions. In the west, the Andes, which are prone to earthquakes, stretch the entire length of the continent; Mount Aconcagua is the highest peak in the western Hemisphere. Highlands lie in the north and east, bordered by lowland sedimentary basins that include the Amazon River basin, the world's largest drainage basin, and the Pampas of eastern Argentina, whose fertile soils constitute one of South America's most productive agricultural areas. Important river systems include the Amazon and the Orinoco. Four-fifths of South America lies within the tropics; it also has temperate, arid, and cold climatic regions. About 7% of its land is arable, producing mainly corn, wheat, and rice, and about one-fourth is under permanent pasture. About half is covered by forest, mainly the enormous but steadily diminishing Amazon Rain Forest. Almost one-fourth of all the world's known animal species live in the continent's rain forests, plateaus, rivers, and swamps. South America has one-eighth of the world's total deposits of iron and one-fourth of its copper reserves. Exploitation of these and numerous other mineral resources are important in many regions. Commercial crops include bananas, citrus fruits, sugar, and coffee; fishing is important along the Pacific coast. Most countries have free-market or mixed state and private-enterprise economies. Income tends to be unevenly distributed between large numbers of poor people and a small number of wealthy families, with the growing middle classes still a minority in most countries. Asiatic hunters and gatherers are thought to have been its first settlers, probably arriving less than 12,000 years ago. The growth of agriculture c. 2600 BC initiated a period of rapid cultural evolution whose greatest development occurred in the central Andes region and culminated with the Inca empire. European exploration began when Christopher Columbus landed in 1498; Spanish and Portuguese adventurers opened it for settlement. According to terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, Portugal received the eastern part of the continent, while Spain received the rest. The native peoples were decimated and most of those who survived were reduced to a form of serfdom. The continent was free of European rule by the early 1800s except for the Guianas. Most of the countries adopted a republican form of government; social and economic inequalities or border disputes led to periodic revolutions in many of them. All joined the U.N. after World War II, and all but Guyana joined the Organization of American States in 1948.