Countries in South America by Population (2023) (2024)

FAQs

Countries in South America by Population (2023)? ›

The continent is generally taken to include twelve sovereign states: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela; two dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and one internal territory: French Guiana ...

The continent is generally taken to include twelve sovereign states: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela; two dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and one internal territory: French Guiana ...

A continent that is home to nearly 400 million people, South America consists of 12 countries—Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname—plus an overseas department of France called French Guiana.

In total, there are 33 countries in Latin America according to the United Nations, each of them independent and containing their own capitals. One nation even has two capitals!

Main languages

Spanish is the most spoken language of South America with Portuguese as a very close second. Other official languages with substantial number of speakers are: Aymara in Bolivia and Peru. Guaraní in Bolivia and Paraguay.

Mexico is organized as a federal constitutional republic comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital.

Suriname is the smallest independent country in South America. Situated on the Guiana Shield, it lies mostly between latitudes 1° and 6°N, and longitudes 54° and 58°W.

Spanish is the official language of all South American countries except Brazil, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, and is spoken even in countries that are not historically Spanish. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil.

The most peaceful region in South America, according to the GPI index, is Uruguay. It is also the only South American country to rank amongst the 50 most peaceful countries globally, and can thereby be acclaimed as the safest South American country for expats.

What are the 2 smallest countries in South America? ›

There are 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean today, according to the United Nations. The full list is shown in the table below, with current population and subregion (based on the United Nations official statistics).

Are Guyanese people considered Hispanic? Guyanese people are not considered Hispanic because they do not speak Spanish. Because of this, Guyana is usually considered part of South America but not Latin America.

You might think all the countries from Mexico to Chile are part of Latin America, but that is actually not the case. Because this area is determined by language and colonial influences, countries like Jamaica, Belize, Suriname, and Guyana are not included in Latin America.

Based on land area, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers. Argentina follows with almost 2.8 million square kilometers. Cuba, whose surface area extends over almost 111,000 square kilometers, is the Caribbean country with the largest territory.