Map of South America.
South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. is the fourth largest continent with a land area of almost 7 million square miles A square mil is a unit of area, equal to the area of a square with sides of length one mil. A mil is one thousandth of an international inch. This unit of area is usually used in specifying the area of the cross section of a wire or cable. . Near the equator is the world's second-longest river, which begins in Peru and flows 4,000 miles to the Atlantic. This river has more water than any other river in the world. The area drained by this river is almost as large as the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and receives so much rainfall that it has produced the world's largest rain forest. Earth's longest mountain chain forms South America's western "backbone" and extends nearly the length of the continent. South America's highest peak is Argentina's Mt. Aconcagua Aconcagua (äkōnkä`gwä), peak, 22,835 ft (6,960 m) high, Mendoza prov., W Argentina, in the Andes, near the Chilean border. It is the highest peak of the Western Hemisphere. The snowcapped Aconcagua was first scaled in 1897. , at 22,834 ft. South America has a population of 350 million.
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