The population of South America is over 350 million.
Until the end of the 15th century, South America was inhabited by Indian tribes and peoples who spoke languages such as Tipigua Rani, Quechua and Chibcha. They settled mainly in the Central Andean highlands (its high-mountain valleys). But with the advent of Europeans (Spaniards, Portuguese), the indigenous population began to be exported to Peru, Venezuela, like slaves, to work on plantations and mines, and immigrants from Italy, Germany and other European countries began to settle in South America.
For the most part, the modern population is of Indian-European and Negro-European origin. In addition, large Indian peoples live in many countries of South America, for example, in Peru and Ecuador - the Quechua, and in Chile - the Araucanians.
Ethnic composition:
- Indians;
- Europeans;
- immigrants from Asian countries;
-
black people.
On average, 10-30 people live per 1 km2, but least of all people live in the rainforests of the Amazon and some mountainous regions of the Andes. As for the densely populated areas, one of these areas is Pampa (it occupies the whole of Uruguay and northeastern Argentina).
The official language is Spanish, but, for example, in Brazil it is Portuguese, and Trinidad, Guyana and Tobago is English.
Major cities: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, Bogota, Salvador.
The population of South America professes Catholicism, Protestantism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam.
Life span
On average, residents of South America live up to 65-70 years. For example, in Chile this figure is 76, in Ecuador - 71, and in Suriname - 69 years.
Despite the rather high indicators of life expectancy, the continent is characterized by a rather high mortality rate among young people and people of pre-retirement age.
The main causes of death of the population: oncological, cardiovascular, infectious diseases, as well as poisoning, injuries and accidents.
Traditions and customs of the peoples of South America
Rituals are the main traditions of the peoples of South America. For example, in Brazil, the marriage of young people must necessarily be consecrated in the church, and at the holiday itself there must be a “sorcerer” whose task is to help the young to protect themselves from the evil eye.
Venezuela is famous for its main traditions - festivals accompanied by dances and songs. In addition, the calendar of Venezuelans is full of various holidays, which they celebrate cheerfully and noisily.
The traditions of the inhabitants of Bolivia deserve close attention - Indians living here and descendants from mixed marriages (their traditions are the embodiment of the true traditions of South America). They express their feelings with songs and dances (popular folk dances are auchi-auchi, kueka, tinki).
Bolivians are engaged in folk art - weaving and knitting (over the past 3000 years, it has not changed at all).
Another local custom is the use of coca leaves in everyday life - it is customary to chew, insist, make tea from them and season some dishes with them (in European countries, coca leaves are considered a drug, and in Bolivia they are a tonic).
If you decide to go to South America, you will make the right choice - you can plunge into the mysterious life of this continent.
