Overview of how South America is located relative to other continents

The first contours of the continent appeared on the maps of Europeans in 1492 when Christopher Columbus moored to the shore of the unknown land at that time. Not immediately European researchers realized how South America is located relative to other continents. At first it was even thought that India was discovered by the researcher, and only after some time the scientists realized that they had discovered completely new, previously unexplored lands.

How is South America relative to other continents and oceans?

Realizing that they are not India, Europeans still did not fully understand that they discovered not a small island, but a huge continent with an area of 17 million kilometers. Only many decades later, the map of South America began to acquire a familiar outline to the modern person.

Of course, much more is known about the mysterious continent to geographers of the 21st century. And this knowledge should not be neglected. From the European and African continents, South America is separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Active currents complicate the intersection of the water spaces, and hurricanes do not facilitate the life of the inhabitants of the coastal regions of the continent.

From North America, the South is isolated by the Caribbean Sea, washing the shores of the Panama Isthmus - a thin strip of land connecting the two Americas. The same isthmus separates the waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific, which is washing the west coast of the continent.

A Brief History of South American Studies

Great contribution to the development of ideas about how South America is located relative to other continents, brought Francisco Orellana, whose expedition went there in search of jewelry.

Numerous islands were discovered in the Caribbean Sea. In the meantime, the maps became more detailed, and it soon became clear that the continent was simultaneously in the Northern and, in part, the Southern Hemisphere. If you look at the equator, its entire area is located in the Western Hemisphere, which significantly affects the climate.

Understanding how South America is located relative to other continents is of great importance for weather forecasting. Indeed, it is over the Atlantic Ocean that hurricanes, cyclones and anticyclones are formed, which are of great importance for the economic activity of the countries of the Western Hemisphere.