South America: position, relief, climate and waters

South America lies entirely in the Western Hemisphere; the equator crosses its northern part and most of it is in the Southern Hemisphere. Its northern extremity is at about 12° N and its southern one (on the mainland) at about 54° S, so it is about 7 300 km from north to south and about 5 000 km from west to east. The Panama Canal is the conventional boundary between North and South America. The Caribbean Sea washes it in the north, the Pacific in the west and the Atlantic in the east. C. Columbus reached the island of San Salvador on 12 October 1492 (considered the date America was discovered) but thought he had reached India; A. Vespucci (1499–1504) said these lands were a New World, and from 1507 the name America was used. A. Humboldt and A. Bonpland made great contributions to scientific study of the continent. South America was once part of Gondwana; in sunken parts of the platform there are basins (Amazon, Orinoco, La Plata) and in raised parts plateaus (Guiana, Brazilian); in the west the young Andes rose, part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, with active volcanoes and strong earthquakes. The Andes are the longest mountain system on land (over 7 000 km); the highest point is Aconcagua (6 961 m, highest in both South America and the Western Hemisphere); one of the highest active volcanoes is Llullaillaco (about 6 739 m). Minerals: in the Andes copper, tin, lead, gold, silver, saltpetre; on the Brazilian Plateau iron, manganese, diamonds, uranium; in basins oil and gas.