South America is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean. This is a list of countries and dependent territories in the Americas by population, which is … About South America. The continent of South America is divided up into 12 countries and 3 dependent territories. There are seven countries in Central America namely Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El … South America has an area of approximately 17,840,000 square kilometres (6,890,000 sq mi), or almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface. It is divided politically into 12 independent countries— Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela —and the overseas department of French Guiana . South America makes up the southern half of the Americas supercontinent and the fourth largest continent of the seven continents. The world's longest mountain range is located in South America. The Bouganvilla has many different names corresponding to different countries… North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. It contains the world's largest river and rain forest. North America is part of the super-continent referred to as “Americas” which is split into South America … This … This is the land of crazy parties, epic surfing, sprawling cities, and wild landscapes including the Andes and the Amazon jungle. The term Central America refers to the land bridge between the continents of North and South America; it borders the Pacific Ocean in the southwest and the Caribbean Sea in the northeast. How Many Countries Are in North America? Of the 23 countries that divide up the continent, Canada, and the United States comprise nearly 80% of the total land area. With the exception of a handful of backpacker hotspots, South America is the wild west frontier of backpacking on many levels. Jump to navigation Jump to search. This continent occupies the entire southern part of the supercontinent of the Americas, that's why is called South America. Map of South America (in Portuguese) Borders with Brazil. The continent is located mostly in the southern hemisphere and entirely in the western hemisphere. With a territorial extension of 8,515,767,049 km², the largest nation in South America is Brazil. Credit: Sam Howzit/CC-BY 2.0 North America consists of 23 wholly independent countries, which include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central American countries and Caribbean island countries. South America has an area of 17,840,000 km2 or almost 11.98% of Earth's total land area. List of countries in South America. The North American Continent is made up of 23 different countries and 9 dependent territories. Our country has a large border extension, so it borders almost all the countries of its subcontinent; The only exceptions are Chile and Ecuador.