Extreme southern point of Cape South America. Geographic coordinates of extreme points of the mainland South America

South America - Mainland, located in the western hemisphere of our planet. It intersects the equator line and divides this continent into two parts. One part (the greatest) - refers to the southern hemisphere, and the second (smallest) - to the northern hemisphere.

The mainland ranks 4th among the continents on its area - 17,840,000 km². On its territory, including the adjacent islands, there are 15 states, three of which are dependent. By clicking on the link, you can see a detailed list of South America countries in the table with capitals and characteristics. The population is about 400 million people.

In the West, the continent is washes by the Pacific Ocean, in the East - the Atlantic Ocean, in the north - the Caribbean Sea, which is the frontier between North America and South America.

The extreme points of the mainland South America

Northern Point - Cape Galinkas is located in Colombia on the banks of the Caribbean.

South (Mainland) Point - Cape Froard is located in Chile on the Brunswick Peninsula on the shore of Magellanov Strait.

South (Island) point - Diego - Ramirez - the southernmost point of America and Chile, which consists of a group of islands that occupy the area of \u200b\u200ba little more than one square kilometer.

Western point - Cape Parigas is in Peru.

The eastern point is Cape Kabu - Brranka, located in Brazil.

Relief South America

Mainland South America on relief is divided into the mountain west and the plain east.

The Atakama desert is located on the territory of Chile and is the most arid place on our land. There are such places in the desert, where the rain falls once in a few decades. Here is the lowest air humidity. From vegetation there are only cacti and acacia.

The western part of the continent consists of a mining system of the Andes, stretching through seven states of South America, and the eastern plains. In the north there is a 1930 km long, 1930 km long and a height - from 300 - 1000m.

In the east, the mainland is a Brazilian Highlands, the area of \u200b\u200babout 4 million km2. 95% of Brazil's population lives here. The highest point of this highland is Mount - Bandeira. Her height is 2897 meters. Because of the huge natural diversity, the Brazilian Highlands shall be divided into the three parts: the Atlantic, central and southern plateau.

The south of the Brazilian Highlands is Laplat lowland, in which states such as Paraguay and Uruguay are located, the northern part of Argentina, the southern part of Brazil and South-East of Bolivia. The lowland area of \u200b\u200bmore than 3 million km2.

Amazon lowland - lowland, occupying area over 5 million km2. It is the most huge lowland on our planet.

Climate of South America

In South America, 6 climatic belts: the Northern and South Sub Escavatorial Belt, Equatorial, Tropical, Subtropical and Moderate Belt.

The climate of South America is largely subequatorial and tropical, in which dry and wet seasons are clearly expressed. Equatorial wet climate is characteristic only for Amazonian lowland. In the south of the continent, a subtropical and moderate climate prevails. In the northern plains Temperature all year round 20-28 degrees. In the heights with a height temperature drops. Even frosts are possible. In the Brazilian plateore, the temperature in the winter can decrease to 10 degrees, and on the Patagonia plateau to zero degrees.

River South America systems.

The mainland is located the following river systems: Parana, Orinoco, Amazon, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Amazon - the world's largest river in the area of \u200b\u200bthe pool (7180 thousand km²), formed by the merge of the River Ukyali and Maranyon. It is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Brazil owned most of the pool. It proceeds mainly on the Amazon lowland and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Parana is the second river in length on this continent, flowing in the southern part of the continent. Proceeds through the territory of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay. Just like the Amazon falls into the Atlantic Ocean.

Paraguay - River, is the right influx of Parana. It divides the Republic of Paraguay to the North and South Paraguay, as well as in the southern part of its part is the state border between Paraguay and Argentina.

Uruguay is a river, originating in Brazil and the confluence of Canas and Pelotas rivers. He is the border between Brazil and Uruguay. Her river system is the main source of water supply of the country. The largest hydroelectric power station is located here.

Orinoco - River flowing through Venezuela and flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Her feature is the splitness of the river. From her, the Kasikiaar River is separated, which flows into the Rio River - Negra. This river carries out a white river dolphin or Amazonian and one of the largest - orincionic crocodile.

Lake South America

Marakaybo (translated "Earth Mary") - large lake With saltwater water, located in Venezuela. The depth of this lake is significantly different in the southern and northern parts. North - small, and South reaches (by different sources) from 50 - 250 meters. This lake is also one of the oldest lakes.

Titicaca (Titi - Puma, Kaka - Rock) - the largest lake on freshwater reserves and second in the area after Maracaibo. More than three hundred rivers falls into this lake. It is shipping. Archaeological studies show that at the bottom of the lake is the city of Vanaka.

Pathos - Lake, located on the coast in Brazil. Its length is 280 km, and width is 70 km. From the ocean it separates the sandy braid width of 8 km. It is located large hydropower plants. Salt, fish and oil are produced here.

Flora World of South America

Thanks to the warm climate and a huge amount of precipitation - the world of plants in South America is very diverse. For each climatic zone is characterized by its flora. Large square is occupied by the jungle, which are located in a tropical belt. Here we grow: a chocolate and melon tree - papaya, rubber trees, various palm trees, orchids.

South jungle in Equatorial forests grow deciduous and evergreen plants. It grows such a tree as Queberaho, having very durable wood. In the subtropical zone you can find lianas and cacti. Further, moving to the south, there is a zone of steppes where the nick is growing and different herbs. Behind this zone begin the deserts and semi-deserts, where dry shrubs grow.

Animal World of South America

The animal world of the mainland is also diverse as vegetable. Monkeys, sloths, jaguar, amusements, parrots, hummingbirds, tucanis and many other animals live in the tropics. Crocodiles, anaconda, piranhas, rodent - copyibar, river dolphins are found in Amazonian Selver. Only here you can meet a wild cat - Ocelot, similar to the leopard. In the savannah dwell: armor, pigs - bakers, spectacle bear, ostriches, pummas, fox and grivy wolf. In the zone of the plains they live: deer, Lama, Pampas Cat. Only in South America can be found deer - PUD, only 30-40 cm high in the Galapagos Islands owned by South America, huge turtles live.

It would seem that from the moment that the Veste on the ship "Santa Maria" shouted: "Earth!", A lot of time passed. Today, the continent of South America no longer looks such mysterious as before. But this does not mean that his history and geography should not be interested. Although now on the history of the continent of the conversation will not be. We will simply understand how the extreme southern point of South America is called and what place is considered the northernmost on the mainland. And also tell about the western and eastern points of this continent.

Small confusion with oriental dot

The eastern point of the continent lies in Brazil. It was believed for a very long time that it was Cape Kabu Branka, that is, the White Cape. A beautiful lighthouse with a memorable sign was built here. Nearby, literally in eight kilometers, is the city of Zhuao-peso. Initially, the MOCU was given the name of San Augustine. The opening honor belongs to the Spanish team under the leadership of Diego Lepe. It happened in 1500, but for no hope, it was definitely definitely established that the neighboring Cape Seyshas was for the extreme eastern point.

Both points are near. The distance between them is about 500 m, in fact they are part of the territory of the nearby city (Zhuan-Pesoza). Seishas - a high rock, put forward to the sea. The height of this place is about 100 m. Around the sandy beaches.

- the fourth largest mainland of the Earth.

Its area is 17.7 million square meters. km, but if you consider with all the adjacent islands, then this value is a little big - 18.28 million square meters. km. South America resembles its contours of the triangle. Mainland is mainly in the Western and South Hemisphere and partly in North.

Mainland South America is surrounded by water from all sides. It is washed from the east of the water of the Atlantic, and from the west of the water of the Pacific Ocean. From the north, South America is washes - the Caribbean Sea, which is a natural frontier between two America.


The Panama Frame in the North-West connects South America with North.


The location of the extreme points of the continent

In degrees, the location of the extreme points of the continent is as follows:

  • in the north - Cape Galinas (12 ° northern latitude and 72 ° Western longitude);
  • on South - Cape Froord (53 ° 54 'southern latitude and 71 ° 18' Western longitude);
  • in the West - Cape Parinas (4 ° 40 'southern latitude and 81 ° 20' Western longitude);
  • in the east There was a confusion - it was Cape Kabu Branca (7 ° 09 "Southern latitude of 34 ° 46) or Cape Seyshas (34 ° 47 Western longitude).

South America's opening history

Mainland South America first saw the navigator Amerigo Vespucci.


This is a Florentine traveler, in honor of which America was allegedly called. In terms of its origin, Vespucci is Florentic. He is a participant in several Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the shores of South America. Amerigo the first who suggested that these lands are a new part of the world, and he suggested calling their new light. But in 1507, Cartographer Martin Waldzemueller in the book "Introduction to Katomography" called the land of America by the name of Amerigo Vespucci.

Climate of South America

South America is the most wet mainland on Earth. By natural conditions It looks like Africa - wet forests with bright birds and monkeys and endless herbaceous plains. But in South America there are much less desert and much more mountains.

Such images, for the most part Yua climate, subequatorial and tropical, in the south of the mainland - subtropical and moderate.

If we talk about climatic zones, then there are deserts on the territory of South America.


There are found in South America and semi-desert, tropical and equatorial forests, pamps (steppes).


Pamppa - space devoid of wood vegetation

Winter in a tropical belt is as hot as summer. Straight sun rays heat ground surface all year round But this does not mean that there are no seasons here. They are simply not cold or warm, but dry or wet.

Far and far from our latitudes, right on the shore of Magellanov Strait, separating the fiery land and the South American continent, is an inconspicuous cape, which due to its geographical position It is considered the most remote in the southern direction of the continent.

It is about Cape Froard, because it is he who is the most southernmost point of South America, with the result that this place is considered extremely attractive for tourists who choose the most interesting and non-standard routes for their travels. By the way, the other extreme dots of the mainland of South America are Cape Galinas (the northern part of the continent with coordinates 12 ° 27 'of the northern latitude and 71 ° 39' Western longitude), Cape Parigas (Western part of the continent with coordinates of 4 ° 40 'southern latitude and 81 ° 20 'Western longitude), as well as Cape Kabu Branka (Eastern part with coordinates of 7 ° 10' southern latitude and 34 ° 47 'Western longitude). It is noteworthy that answering the question of what South America the point is below all, geographers besides Froard lead another extreme point - Diego Ramirez with coordinates of 56 ° 30 'in South Lot and 68 ° 43' in Western longitude. This time we are talking Not about mainland, but about the island of South America, however, if we consider this question solely at the continental level, it was Cape Froard, and not a separate island, despite the fact that he is much north.

As for the exact location of the Froard Cape, this attraction has the following coordinates - 53 ° 54 'southern latitude and 71 ° 18' Western longitude. At the same time, other landmarks will be useful to tourists, because going to the trekking (popular in lately A kind of pedestrian travel), you should know that the southernmost point of the South American continent is located on the Brunswick Peninsula (the largest peninsula in this area with a length of more than 112 kilometers) is only 100 kilometers from Chilean Punta Arenas. The distinctive characteristic of this picturesque place is a man-made cross from a metal, the crowned peak of the cape, which appeared in this area by no means by chance. The fact is that in 1987, the most remote point on the mainland honored his visit to Pope John Paul the second. And although plans to erect the big cross at the very top of the cape existed since the beginning of the twentieth century (since 1913, to be accurate), the Chileans decided to finally fulfill his conceived after the visit of His Holiness, assigning the name of Cruz de Los Mares to a new construction that Translation from Spanish means "cross seas".

Quite interesting is the earlier history of this unique place. So, do not forget that Cape Froard is located on the coast of Magellanov Strait, who became famous for the whole world with his narrow winding outlines, rightfully considered very dangerous for the movement of maritime ships, unless we are talking about professional sides. Naturally, this feature led to a huge amount of shipwrecks, starting from the moment people decided to master the marked water management. And the special attention of historians attracted the fact that near Cape Frogoguard almost suffered a crash of the famous English pirate of those times Thomas Cavevenis, who first hit the famous Francis Drake, and then risked his life in the dangerous waters of Magellanov Strait. It is noteworthy that this cruel and indifferent robber could not only break the enemy, but also to get to the shores of Cape Froard and it was he who gave him this name that is literally translated from of English languagelike "unpumbed, timely".

Nevertheless, landing on the Chilean Earth and meets the Spanish Corsaars speculating there, Cavendish with his team managed not only to fight them, but also rob several cities and pick up two of the three existing ships, flooding the latter due to the lack of people to manage them. At that time, the navigator was only 27 years old, but despite his age, he unfortunately burned whole settlements together with people and robbed all those opposed to the thread. And after the conquest of the southern point of the South African continent, the pirate quietly reached the Gulf of Mexico.

To date, close to Cape Froard is one more attraction in the form of an old lighthouse, which illuminates the recalcitrant top with a man-made cross from the opposite shore. As for local residents, the nearest settlement is located just 40 kilometers from the most southern point of the continent.

Fourth in Square Continent. It is washed by the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. On its territory there are 12 states where more than 387 million people live. In this article, we will look at the coordinates of the extreme points of South America and their names. Special attention will be paid to Cape Horn.

Historical summary

According to historical data, the South American Continent was opened by the Portuguese navigator Columbus, who mistakenly considered that India reached. The fact that this is a completely new mainland, previously unknown to the European Community, Amerigo Vespucci told. Due to the colonization, the local population was destroyed, and these lands were settled with conquisites. A little later, numerous states have grown on this territory.

Earlier, to get from the Atlantic Ocean in a quiet, navigators needed to go to the extreme southernmost point of South America. Here is the Strait of Drake, where these two giant reservoirs are connected. It was the only seaway until 1920. During this period, a Panaman canal was introduced into operation, located on the variety of the same name connecting Northern and South America. The extreme southern point has not become so attractive for navigation, since this route was much longer and more dangerous.

Northern Point

Cape Galinas is the northern tip of the mainland. It is located in the territory that belongs to the State of Colombia. Cape shore is washed by the waters of the Caribbean.

The extreme northern point of South America has such coordinates: 12 ° 27 's. sh. and 71 ° 39 's. d.

Western point

The western tip of the mainland is called Cape Parinas. She was opened by the Spaniards in 1527. Geographically, Cape belongs to Peru. Locality Negritos is closest to the extreme western point. It is located 5 km from Cape Parinaas, washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean and has such coordinates: 4 ° 40 'Yu. sh. and 81 ° 20 's. d.

Eastern Point

The eastern tip of the mainland is located on the territory of Brazil. It has the name of Kabu Branka, which is translated from Portuguese as "White Cape". Not far from this place (8 km) is the city of Juan-Pesoa. The Diego Lepoye - the Spanish navigator, who arrived on the coast of South America in 1500, became the discoverer of Cape. There is a lighthouse and a memorable plate on which it is designated that this is the easternmost point of the continent. However, in our time, scientists have established that in fact this title belongs to the Seishas cape, which is located approximately at a distance of Polkilometer from Kabu Branka. The coordinates of the point - 7 ° 10' yu. sh. 34 ° 47' d.

Extreme South Point of South America

It is worth noting that there are several southern tips:

  • cape Froard;
  • Diego Ramirez;

So what is the correct option? Let's start in order.

Cape Froard is the extreme southern point of South America, which is located directly on the mainland. Its coordinates - 53 ° 54 'Yu. sh. and 71 ° 18 's. D. She is on the peninsula Brunswick, which geographically belongs to the state of Chile. The cape is washed by the waters of Magellanov Strait. English Pirate T. Keavendish gave the caulation of this name in January 1587. The word forward is translated from English as "unfavorable", "timely". The closest settlement is located at a distance of 40 km.

Another extreme point is the group of Islands of Diego Ramirez. They are located southwest Cape Gorn. The distance between these geographic objects is about 100 km. Based on these data, the Southern Island point can be considered the Rocky Island Aguil, which is part of the Diego Ramirez group.

Many people consider Cape Gorn the southernmost point. However, this is rooted incorrectly. To understand the question, you should carefully examine the map of the continent. In fact, the extreme southern point of South America - Cape Froard, located in Chile on the Brunswick peninsula. Island tip - Aguil (Diego Ramirez Group).

Nevertheless, Cape Horn himself and his story cause very great interest.

Cape Horn

The Fire Land Archipelago consists of a variety of islands, the most southern of which is the island of Horn. Quite often this group of islands is called "the edge of the world." From the mainland, they are separated by the Magellan Strait. The southernmost limit of the archipelago is considered to be Cape Horn. The group of the islands became part of National Park Cabo de Ornos.

If you calculate the distance from the southern tip of the archipelago to the coldest continent on Earth - Antarctica, it will be a little less than 800 km. In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed Cape Horn Natural heritage of mankind.

This place was opened in 1616 by the Dutch navigators who were looking for a new way of following in India. He headed the expedition to Villem Schautn from the town of Horn. Crossing the Strait of Magellan, the ships bypassed the rocky island, behind which the seafarers opened the endless Pacific Ocean. The head of the expedition decided to call him Hoorn - in honor of the Dutch city.

Bad reputation

Behind Cape Mountains fastened bad glory, as the route running past him, one of the most difficult. You could get from one ocean in the other until 1920, only bypassing the island of fiery land. The north path was even harder in terms of maneuvering. The only chance to get from the Atlantic in the Pacific Ocean is to overcome the Strait of Drake.

Weather conditions in this region are very unfavorable. Approximately 280 days a year there is rainy weather, cyclones are unpredictable. Western winds form a rapid flow. The islands of the archipelago the mouth of the flow narrows, because of what the largest rapids arise on the path. Due to mainland, ocean shafts are broken, which contributes to the formation of large waves, whose height reaches 18 meters.

Here is a huge cemetery of ships. Their death is associated with the harsh nature of these places. According to scientists, about a thousand ships have found their refuge here.