Mapping Specialists/Jim McMahon

2022 Facts & Figures: SOUTH AMERICA

November 1, 2021

TOTAL COUNTRIES: 12

TOTAL POPULATION: 429 million

4,000

LENGTH IN MILES of Chile’s Pacific coastline, which is home to penguins, pelicans, and sea lions. The country is only about 61 miles wide.

Amazon Rainforest

Mark Fox/Getty Images

Stretching across some 2.6 million square miles, the Amazon rainforest covers about 40 percent of South America. It includes more than 4,000 miles of winding rivers and about one-tenth of all known animal species on the planet.

^{Source: World Wildlife Fund}

5.3 million

ESTIMATED NUMBER of Venezuelans who have fled their country since 2015, creating one of the world’s worst refugee crises. Venezuelans are fleeing political oppression and massive economic collapse at home.

^{Source: Brookings Institution}

23

NUMBER of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Brazil, more than any other country in South America. These are cultural or natural sites that the U.N. agency says are of “outstanding universal value” and should be protected.

^{Source: UNESCO}