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South America . E conomy. South American countries had a slow pace of economic development in the past. In recent times, however, South America has as a whole undergone rapid economic development .
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Economy • South American countries had a slow pace of economic development in the past. In recent times, however, South America has as a whole undergone rapid economic development. • Aided by greater economic independence since the times of the second World War, South America has been largely successful in developing its economy rapidly. The biggest individual economies in South America are those of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.
Population • South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq mi), or almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface. As of 2005, its population was estimated at more than 371,090,000. South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America).
Politics • South American Politics in today’s world enjoys a certain democratic political rule but it is gained by the continuance struggle against the decades of dictatorship and the country has passed through a lot of political crisis. • Though the Politics in South America has grown economically from the past 20 years but still today the conditions not in much proper shape as it was in the 1950s.
The percentage of women in South American Politics is 15% in the executive power and 13-14% in legislative power. According to the sources 5% of the total power in the municipalities is led by women folk. • The contribution of women in the South American Politics has lead to the major developments mainly during the wars against the dictatorships. • South American Politics is governed by numbers of political leaders who looks after all the aspects in the political arena.
Geography • "South America has an area of 17,840,000 km² (6,890,000 sq mi), or almost 3.5% of the Earth's surface. • As of 2005, its population was estimated at more than 371,000,000. South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America)."
Agriculture • Colombian coffee farmers are complaining that the water they need to growcoffee is being diverted to grow opium poppy and causing environmental havoc.Coca--the leaf used to make cocaine--grows at about sea level in the jungle andpoppies grow in the mountains above 6,000 feet. Many plants and animals arebecoming extinct, as poppy production is pushed into the jungles and mountains:ranked by number of species in relation to the size of the country, Colombiacomes in fourth after Brazil, Madagascar and Suriname.
To produce Colombia's 45,000-ton annual coca leaf crop, growers use 17.6tons of fertilizer and 100,000 gallons of bug-killing poison each year; most ofthe chemicals are applied by barefoot peasants. • To process coca leaves into the paste they sell to drug traffickers,growers use outdoor "laboratories" that mix the leaves with 55,115 pounds ofcement, 25,000 gallons of gasoline and 15,000 gallons of sulfuric acid.
About a ton of chemicals is needed to process the leaves from each acre of cocabushes, and the practice of dumping the waste into rivers means that somefishermen forced out of business have become coca laborers. The government hasposted soldiers on the main rivers into coca-growing areas to block the entryof gasoline andcement.
Brazil’s “cerrado” • First commercial agriculture enterprises to start up in the cerrados were extensive livestock operations • Changed dramatically in late 1970s with the development of the "tropical" soybean and with new techniques for managing cerrado soils • Viable crop agriculture in the cerrados brought a mass population movement into the region. Most of the migrants were farmers from southern states of Brazil • Cheap land was the attraction; for every hectare of land they sold elsewhere, they could buy 10 to 40 hectares in the cerrados. • At the outset of the migration in the early 1980s, a hectare of Western Bahia land could be bought for the equivalent of the price of a pack of cigarettes. Today, virgin land sells for US$250 or less per hectare.
