South America has a variety of natural resources including forests, water, minerals, and fertile land for agriculture. Forest resources provide lumber and materials for industries. Water resources include rivers for hydroelectric power, irrigation, and transportation. Important minerals mined include iron, copper, tin, and oil. Major industries have developed around agriculture, mining, and oil production. Transportation networks are less developed in the mountainous west and sparsely populated interior. The population of 387 million is unevenly distributed among the twelve countries and includes people of European, indigenous, and African descent.

1. GEOGRAPHY

2. A PRESENTATION ON
SOUTH AMERICA- RESOURCES
THE
REDEEMER

3. CONTENTS
 RESOURCES
 AGRICULTURE
 MINERALS
 INDUSTRIES
 TRANSPORT
 POPULATION
 MAJOR COUNTRIES

4.  RESOURCES
 Anything that is useful to mankind, is termed as resource.
 Source of economic development and income are the
resources for a continent or a country or state.
 South America has a variety of resources, i.e. -
 Forest Resources
 Water Resources

5.  FOREST RESOURCES
 South America enjoys a variety of vegetation
with a number of economically useful trees.
 Lumbering is an important activity in South
America, much of the wood is used for
construction activities.

6.  FOREST RESOURCES
 Some trees and their uses are as follows –
 Quebracho Tree – provides Tannin
which is used in leather industries.
 Balsa Trees – used to make model
airplanes.
 Yerba Mate – a kind of tea.
 Carnauba Palm – provides wax which
is used in furniture polish and shoe polish,
candles, lipsticks etc.

7.  FOREST RESOURCES
 Coniferous Tree – Its softwood is
used in making paper and pulp for the
printing industry.
 Cinchona Tree – provides raw
material for making quinine which is used
as a medicine.
 Chicle Tree – Chewing Gum is made by
its Juice.
 Rubber Trees are also found in South America.

8.  FOREST RESOURCES

9.  WATER RESOURCES
South America has vast source of water but
they have not been fully harnessed.
In South America, the water is used for many
purposes i.e. – hydroelectric power generation,
irrigation, fishing and navigation etc.
Brazil leads in hydroelectric power generation
followed by Argentina, Paraguay and
Venezuela.

10.  WATER RESOURCES
 Amazon river carries vast
quantity of water but as its flow
is gradual without any sharp or
steep valley except for some
part in Andes, it has not been
used much for Hydroelectric
Power generation.
 However, some small rivers
descending from the Andes and
Brazilian Highlands have been
used for this purpose.
Amazon River

11.  AGRICULTURE
 Most of the land of the continent is covered by
mountains, deserts, dense forests etc.
 Only 10 percent of the land is available for
Agricultuaral activities
 The crops, cultivated in South America, can be
categorized as –
 Food Crops – Wheat, Maize, Rice.
 Cash Crops – Coffee, Cocoa, Sugarcane,
Cotton, Bananas.

12.  AGRICULTURE

13.  AGRICULTURE
Some other activities are –
 Cattle Rearing – It is one of the most important
activities of the continent. Cattles are reared mainly
for beaf. The large cattle farms in Argentina are known
as Estancias.
 Sheep Rearing – Sheep are reared mainly for meat and
wool. The main sheep rearing areas are Argentina,
eastern slopes of Andes mountains and parts of Chile.
Argentina is the fourth largest producer of wool in the
world.
 Fisheries – Almost all South American Countries are
involved in the fishing industry. Peru is the largest
producer of fish in the world.

14.  MINERALS
 South America has large deposits of many minerals.
 Iron ore – Brazil is the second largest producer of iron ore in
the world.
 Copper – Chile is one of the world’s leading copper mining
countries.
 Tin – Brazil and Bolivia are among the largest producers of tin
in the world.
 Bauxite – Guyana, Suriname and Brazil are the important
producer of Bauxite. Most of it is exported to USA and Canada.

15.  MINERALS
 Nitrates – Nitrates are found in the Atacama Desert. Chile
is the largest producer of nitrates in the world.
 Mineral Oil – There are rich reserves of mineral oil in
Venezuela and in the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Other oil
producing countries are Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and
Brazil.
 South America has also reserves of gold, silver, zinc, lead,
sulphur etc. but poor in coal reserves as only Colombia has
some coal deposits.

16.  MINERALS

17.  INDUSTRIES
Brazil and Argentina are the leading industrial
nations in South America.
Argentina leads in - Meat Packing, Leather
Processing.
Brazil exports Coffee and Sugar.

18.  INDUSTRIES
With the discovery of Oil, Venezuela, Chile, Peru
have developed oil refineries and petro-chemical
industries.
Other countries of the continent are industrially
not so developed and export raw materials like
minerals, meat, fish, dairy product etc.

19.  TRANSPORT
 Though large part of South America have extensive forests, swamps,
barren plateaus and high mountains, the continent does not have a well
developed system of modern transport.
 Roads – Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina are linked together by
roads.
 The road network is more developed in the eastern coastal towns of
Brazil and Argentina.
 Roads are limited in the region of the Andes mountains in the west due
to hostile terrain.
 The Pan-American Highway system connects South America to North
America.

20.  TRANSPORT
 Airways – Airways supplement the shortage of road transport in the
continent. All major cities are linked to each other by air transport. Some
smaller cities have airports too.
 Railways – Argentina, Chile and Brazil have developed railways.
 Seaways – A number of seaports lie on the east, west and northern parts
of the continent. Important seaports are listed here –
 North – Caracas, Belem
 East – Natal, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Bahia
Blanca
 South – Punta Arenas
 West – Valparaiso, Callao

21.  POPULATION
 Total population – 387 million (2011) with an average density
of 21.4 persons per square km distributed unevenly in 12
countries.
 Major Racial groups – Red Indians, Europeans and Africans.
 Some Other groups developed over time by intermingling of
the major racial groups –
 Mestizos (Red Indian + European)
 Mulattos (European + African)
 Zambos (African + Red Indian)
 Cholos (Mestizo + Red Indian)

22.  POPULATION
 Major Languages – Spanish, Portuguese.
 South American people do not have racial discrimination
and share common customs and traditions.
 Densely populated areas are – Eastern coastal region,
North-Western coastal region.
 Large area including Amazon forests, Patagonia and
Atacama deserts, is uninhabited.

23.  POPULATION
Popular Languages

24.  MAJOR COUNTRIES
S.A COUNTRY CAPITAL MAJOR CITIES
Argentina Buenos Aires Rosario, Mendoza
Bolivia Sucre and La Paz Santa Cruz, El Alto
Brazil Brasilia Rio de Janeiro,
Salvador
Chile Santiago Santiago Metropolis
Colombia Bogota Medellin, Cali
Paraguay Asuncion Alberdi, Edelira
Uruguay Montevideo Salto, Artigas
Venezuela Caracas Isla Raton, Maroa
Peru Lima Ica, Huaraz
Guyana Georgetown Anna Regina,
Linden