In the News, 2021: SOUTH AMERICA

December 14, 2020

TOTAL COUNTRIES: 12

TOTAL POPULATION: 424 million

TOP EXPORTER

Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is responsible for almost half of all the continent’s exports. Brazil’s top exports include soy beans, iron ore, oil, sugar, and cars.

_{Source: worldstopexports.com}

HISTORICAL HERO

De Agostini via Getty Images

Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), a soldier and diplomat, led five South American countries—Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia—to independence from Spanish colonial rule. Bolivia is named in honor of him.

SOCIAL ISOLATION

Indigenous Tribes

Even in the era of globalization and the internet, there are some tribes of indigenous people living deep in the Amazon rainforest with little or no contact with the modern world. The Amazon, which contains about 10 percent of all wildlife species known on Earth, is threatened by ongoing deforestation and development.

MELTDOWN

In the past seven years, Venezuela has undergone a complete economic collapse. Almost 5 million people have fled, seeking work elsewhere, and a recent U.N. report finds that one-third of the country doesn’t have enough to eat.