South America covers about 17,840,000 km² km² — roughly 13.1%% of the world's land and the 4th largest continent. It spans 14 countries and territories, from Brazil (8,499,400 km² km²) down to South Georgia and the Islands.
At true size South America is about 0.4× the size of Asia. On old Mercator maps that gap shrank or swelled depending on latitude — on the new map it is simply true.
Mercator's distortion hits South America unevenly: South Georgia and the Islands is inflated about 3× at its latitude, while Colombia, near the equator, is drawn almost honestly. Old maps therefore made South America's northern countries feel dominant while hiding the scale of its equatorial ones.
Explore South America further
Brazil · Argentina · Peru · Colombia · Bolivia · Venezuela · Chile · Paraguay · Ecuador · Guyana · Uruguay · Suriname · Falkland Islands · South Georgia and the Islands