South America is a world of impenetrable jungle, white sandy beaches, the largest rivers and waterfalls, arid deserts and high mountains with perennial glaciers and snows. The nature of the continent is diverse and unique in its own way. On the islands of South America, it is no less interesting and attractive. We will talk about them in the article.
Islands of south america
The mainland is located in the Western Hemisphere of the Earth, between North America and Antarctica. In the longitudinal direction, it stretches for 7350 kilometers, covering six climatic zones - from the northern subequatorial to the southern moderate.
Due to the large size and location features, the natural conditions of the mainland are diverse. Here are the wettest and wettest and at the same time the driest territories of the planet. In the north of the continent, humid equatorial forests grow and the air temperature does not change all year round, in the extreme south the climate resembles the conditions of Northern Europe.
Compared to its northern neighbor, there are very few large islands. The coastline of South America is mostly smooth and heavily indented only in the Chile region. There is the Chonos archipelago of many small rocky land areas, separated by fjords and straits. The large islands of South America are scattered around the mainland. The largest of them are presented in the table:
Title | Country | Area, km 2 | Population |
Tierra del Fuego | Chile, Argentina | 47,992 | 100,000 |
Falkland Islands, or Malvinas | The dispute between the UK and Argentina | 12 173 | 2 800 |
Chiloe | Chile | 8394 | 154,700 |
Galapagos | Ecuador | 8010 | 25 124 |
Wellington | Chile | 5556 | 340 |
Tierra del Fuego
Isla Grande, or Tierra del Fuego, is the largest island in South America. It is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan and is part of Chile and Argentina. The island is located on the southern tip of the continent and is part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago with an area of almost 74 km 2 . Here are the southernmost settlements of the planet - Ushuaia and Puerto Toro.
The pioneer of the area is Magellan, who gave her such a bizarre name. The navigator mistakenly accepted the bonfires of the local Indians as a burning volcanic lava, and therefore called this land fire.
Once the archipelago was considered part of the “Unknown Southern Land”, or Antarctica, and this is not surprising, because they are only a thousand kilometers away. Today, cruise ships and scientific expeditions to the icy continent regularly depart from here.
Galapagos Islands
Galapagos - land areas in the Pacific Ocean, consisting of volcanic islands, small islands and alluvial territories. The first of them appeared several million years ago, and some continue to form now. They are located near the equator, 900 kilometers from mainland Ecuador. The largest and youngest island is Isabela. On its territory is the Wolf Volcano, the eruption of which was last observed in 2015.
All islands in the group were formed in isolation and are characterized by a large number of endemic flora and fauna. Within their limits, marine iguanas, elephant and green turtles, blue-footed boobies and common konolofs are found. Given the location of the Galapagos Islands, it is hard to imagine that their main attraction is the penguins. They appeared in the region long before people came here and have long adapted to the high temperatures of water and air. Galapagos penguins are the only representatives of their kind that do not live within the Antarctic and Subantarctic zones.
Falkland Islands
The Malvinas, or Falkland Islands are actually considered overseas territory of Great Britain, but Argentina disputes this, demonstrating its position at every opportunity. They are located on the southeastern side of the mainland and are washed by the Atlantic Ocean. These include the large Western and Eastern islands and about 800 small islands located around them.
The local climate is quite cool - in summer the temperature rarely rises above +15 degrees. Occasionally, icebergs float near the islands. The nature of the region is close to the Argentinean Patagonia, and is represented by heather and cereal meadows, penguins and migratory seabirds. After colonization, the landscapes of the islands changed dramatically. Many of them were turned into pastures for sheep and emptied. Today, wool production continues to be a popular occupation of the population, consisting mainly of immigrants from England, Scotland, France, Germany and Chile. The property of the inhabitants of the islands, there are about 500 thousand sheep.