ABSTRACT
South America is the fourth largest continent. It has an area of 17,840,000 km2 (6,890,000mi2), or almost 3.5% of the Earth’s surface. As of 2005, its population was estimated at more than 371,000,000. This region has socioeconomic inequities, with major sectors of the population living in poverty. In many South American countries, the richest 20% may own over 60% of the nation’s wealth, while the poorest 20%may own less than 5%. This wide gap can be seen in many large South American cities. In 2005, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (in terms of purchasing power parity) was around US $7200 (US $14,087 in Argentina; US $2817 in Bolivia). As of 2002, South America’s unemployment rate was 10.8%.
