Minerals resources

South America is relatively rich in mineral

resources. However, they are highly localized:

few countries have a good balance of fuels

and raw materials within their boundaries,

and two countries, Uruguay and Paraguay,

are nearly devoid of mineral wealth.

Nevertheless, South American economies

have traditionally relied on a foundation of

mining, fishing and forestry, agriculture, and

non-exportable manufactures

Power resources The total annual generation of electricity in South America has

increased steadily since the mid-1980s, mainly through the

construction of large-scale hydroelectric projects. As the South

American economy has advanced, there has been a greater

demand for energy. In the early 21st century, energy shortages

in South America were common, especially in countries

dependent on oil and natural gas imports. Some governments

have implemented policies to stimulate the use of

nonconventional sources of energy, particularly solar and wind

power. In Brazil, ethanol derived from sugarcane is widely

used, and there are numerous sugarcane refineries

throughout the country. There is great disparity between

countries in terms of energy production, however. The

electrical energy per capita in Venezuela is more than twice

the regional average; in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay it is

about the average; and in Guyana and Peru it is less than half

Industries

In most South American countries the industrial sector has made only a limited contribution to the creation of new sources of employment. This fact, which is problematic especially in view of the rapid growth of the labour force, can be explained in part by the adoption of dated production techniques requiring a high ratio of capital to labour and in part by the sector’s slow growth. In the 1990s about one-fifth of the continent’s labour force was occupied in the industrial sector.

population People

Four main components have contributed to

the present-day population of South

America—American Indians (Amerindians),

who were the pre-Columbian inhabitants;

Iberians (Spanish and Portuguese who

conquered and dominated the continent until

the beginning of the 19th century); Africans,

imported as slaves by the colonizers; and,

finally, postindependence immigrants from

overseas, mostly Italy and Germany but also

Lebanon, South Asia, and Japan.

In an area the size of South America, an efficient

system of transportation is necessary for the

development of the hinterland, the expansion of

national markets, and the integration of the

different national economic systems. Unlike North

America, South America still does not have an

adequately integrated transportation network.

Significant efforts have been made to improve

both the connections within countries and the

linkages between them.

South America has an extensive and rapidly expanding network of roads. In

many countries, however, only a relatively small percentage of the roads are

paved, and in the most remote areas they may be barely wide enough for two

vehicles to pass easily. The remainder of the system consists of improved roads

or simply of dirt roads.

In developing national segments of international highways, particular attention

has been paid to road-integration projects. The Inter-American Development

Bank and the World Bank were heavily engaged in some of these projects, as,

for example, in the construction of the bridge links joining Paraguay and

Argentina, Argentina and Uruguay, and Paraguay and Brazil (all these links

were completed by the late 1970s). A road linking Venezuela and Brazil allows

north-south movement through the Amazon basin. Brazil continues to have the

largest network of roads belonging to the Pan-American Highway system,

which extends throughout the Americas.

In most South American countries railways have lost their

dominant position as the major mode of transportation and

have been replaced by the road networks that have

developed rapidly since the 1960s. Moreover, rail transport

is plagued by operational problems as well as by obsolete

equipment. Almost all lines are single-tracked, which

makes traffic slow and discourages passenger service.

Many countries have two or more track gauges, which

impedes the efficient integration of the rail system.

Until the 1980s, virtually all railways were owned by the

state. Since then, governments, as part of their overall

efforts to privatize their national economies, have divested

themselves of a large percentage of publicly owned

railroads. This has led to the elimination of a huge number

of passenger routes as well as the reduction of much of the

freight component.

There are two inland waterway systems of international

importance, the Paraguay-Uruguay basin (which includes

territory in four countries) and the Amazon basin (six

countries). Each has several thousand miles of navigable

waterways. Furthermore, there are three other minor

systems: the Magdalena in Colombia, the Orinoco in

Venezuela, and the São Francisco in Brazil. The remaining

rivers are unsuitable for navigation. There are drawbacks

to using some inland waterways, including dry seasons,

the direction of water flow, motionless current, and

difficult rapids. In general, the volume of traffic on the

waterways of South America is relatively small, and the

prospects for increasing it are limited.

Air transportation has developed rapidly since World

War II. The increase is particularly significant with

respect to passenger traffic but applies less to the

handling of bulky freight.

Each country has its own system of internal air

services, operated until the late 1980s chiefly by

government-owned or by heavily subsidized private

companies. While several governments still operate an

international carrier, privatization in the airline industry

has spread to internal carriers. All the South American

capitals and most of the large cities are linked by direct

air services to the major traffic centres of the United

States and Europe. Domestic traffic links have

expanded extensively since the late 1970s, when

“short take-off” jets were introduced into service

In South America, most banks and financial institutions

are large enterprises, with branches in many cities and

towns. In some countries a high proportion of these were

government-owned until the late 1980s, but by the early

21st century foreign-owned banks or joint-venture

enterprises of local and foreign capitalization were

common. Wholesale and particularly retail business

enterprises, on the other hand, are mostly individual

concerns and in many cases are family owned and

operated. Department stores or chain stores,

uncommon in most South American countries until the

early 1970s, have become an important part of the

merchandising environment, especially in the larger

cities. During the 1980s, modern managerial and

marketing structures took hold in many countries—

especially Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia,

and Venezuela—often giving a competitive edge in the

marketplace to enterprises that adopted them.

São Paulo Brazil 10,886,518

Bogotá Colombia 6,840,116

Santiago Chile 6,500,000

Lima Peru 6,321,173

Rio de Janeiro Brazil 6,093,472

Buenos Aires Argentina 3,776,138

Caracas Venezuela 2,950,033

Salvador Brazil 2,892,625

Brasília Brazil 2,455,903

Fortaleza Brazil 2,431,415

Belo Horizonte Brazil 2,412,937

Guayaquil Ecuador 2,278,691

Medellín Colombia 2,214,494

Cali Colombia 2,119,908

Maracaibo Venezuela 2,109,201

Curitiba Brazil 1,797,408

Córdoba Argentina 1,613,211

Manaus Brazil 1,612,475

Quito Ecuador 1,607,734

Recife Brazil 1,533,580

Valencia Venezuela 1,501,023

Santa Cruz de la Sierra[1] Bolivia 1,453,549

Porto Alegre Brazil 1,420,667

Belém Brazil 1,408,847

Rosario Argentina 1,325,090

Montevideo Uruguay 1,303,182

Goiânia Brazil 1,244,645