In 2024, approximately 22.81 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the fifth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.51 million inhabitants.

Brazil's cities

Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 12.4 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.8 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 85 percent of inhabitants living in cities.

Mexico City

Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks fifth in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2021, the city registered a crime incidence of 45,336 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 32 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

The South America City Gas Distribution Market is segmented into different types and end-users. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which is used as a fuel for vehicles, is a major segment. Pipeline Natural Gas (PNG) is another important segment, which involves the distribution of natural gas through pipelines to homes and industries. The market is also segmented based on end-users, including industrial, power sector, residential and commercial, and transportation. Recent developments include: August 2022: As part of Ambipar's initial investment of USD 5.5 million, it incorporates trucks equipped with compressed natural gas (CNG) technology, such as Scania R 410 6X2 models, into its fleet. Ambipar estimates a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the Corridor after the first year of circulation of these new units. By incorporating compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks on a large scale, the Sustainable Corridor Project begins the process of changing its fleet's energy matrix to renewable and cleaner sources of power., May 2022: Compagas, Parana state's gas distribution company, and Brazilian logistic operator NEOgas started a pilot project to transport compressed natural gas (CNG) via natural gas-fueled trucks. The project aims to provide a greener and more cost-effective solution to the transportation of natural gas to the countryside of Brazil. The pilot project lasts around 30 days, with NEOgas compressing Compagas' natural gas at the Ponta Grossa station. The natural gas-fueled trucks from vehicle manufacturer Scania will then transport the gas daily for 130 km to the city of Arapoti, where the paper company BO Paper plans to use it.. Key drivers for this market are: 4., Rising Industrialization across the Globe4.; Increasing Utilization of Natural Gas. Potential restraints include: 4., High Cost of Installation and Maintenance. Notable trends are: Power Sector to Dominate the Market.

In 2024, Cuzco, Peru, was named the top destination in Latin America by travelers, receiving a score of 87.47. The small southern city of Antigua, Guatemala, followed in second place with a score of nearly 86 points.

The Mexican city of Cancún was the top Latin American destination for foreign visitors in 2018, with approximately 6.04 million international tourist arrivals. This number was expected to increase by 1.8 percent in 2019, reaching 6.15 million foreign arrivals that year. Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, ranked second on the list of top city destinations for international tourism in Latin America, with nearly 2.7 million international tourist arrivals in 2018 and an estimate of 2.77 million arrivals for 2019. During the depicted period, the most visited city in the whole American continent was New York.

This horizontal bar chart displays birth rate (per 1,000 people) by capital city and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays health expenditure (% of GDP) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by gdp and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

The highest city in the world with a population of more than one million is La Paz. The Capital of Bolivia sits 3,869 meters above sea level, and is more than 1,000 meters higher than the second ranked city - Quito. La Paz is also higher than Mt. Fuji in Japan, which has a height of 3,776 meters. Many of the world's highest cities are located in South America. The only city in North America that makes the top 20 list is Denver, Colorado, which has an altitude of 1,673 meters.

The South America City Gas Distribution Market size was valued at USD 143.4 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 203.9 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2026 to 2032.

The South America City Gas Distribution Market is driven by rising urbanization and increasing demand for cleaner energy alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. Governments across the region are promoting natural gas as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution for residential, commercial, and industrial applications, encouraging infrastructure expansion. Investments in pipeline networks, smart metering technologies, and public-private partnerships are further accelerating market growth. Additionally, energy transition policies, coupled with efforts to reduce dependency on imported fuels, are boosting the adoption of city gas distribution systems. The growing focus on energy security and sustainable urban development also plays a crucial role in market expansion.

As of 2024, three out of ten Latin American and Caribbean cities with the highest local purchasing power were located in Mexico. With an index score of 51.3, people in Querétaro had the highest domestic purchasing power in Mexico. In South America, the city with the highest domestic purchasing power for 2024 was Montevideo, scoring 53 index points.

This horizontal bar chart displays agricultural land (km²) by capital city using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays electricity production from hydroelectric sources (% of total) by capital city using the aggregation average and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays fossil fuel energy consumption (% of total) by capital city and is filtered where the region is South America. The data is about countries per year.

Based on land area, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers. Argentina follows with almost 2.8 million square kilometers. Cuba, whose surface area extends over almost 111,000 square kilometers, is the Caribbean country with the largest territory.

Brazil: a country with a lot to offer

Brazil's borders reach nearly half of the South American subcontinent, making it the fifth-largest country in the world and the third-largest country in the Western Hemisphere. Along with its landmass, Brazil also boasts the largest population and economy in the region. Although Brasília is the capital, the most significant portion of the country's population is concentrated along its coastline in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

South America: a region of extreme geographic variation

With the Andes mountain range in the West, the Amazon Rainforest in the East, the Equator in the North, and Cape Horn as the Southern-most continental tip, South America has some of the most diverse climatic and ecological terrains in the world. At its core, its biodiversity can largely be attributed to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and the Amazon river, the world's largest river. However, with this incredible wealth of ecology also comes great responsibility. In the past decade, roughly 80,000 square kilometers of the Brazilian Amazon were destroyed. And, as of late 2019, there were at least 1,000 threatened species in Brazil alone.

Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, leads Latin American cities with the highest apartment sale prices in 2024, averaging 3,454 U.S. dollars per square meter. This figure surpasses other major metropolitan areas like Mexico City and Buenos Aires, highlighting significant disparities in real estate markets across the region. The data underscores the varying economic conditions and housing demand in different Latin American urban centers. Regional housing market trends While Montevideo tops the list for apartment prices, other countries in Latin America have experienced notable changes in their housing markets. Chile, for instance, saw the most substantial increase in house prices since 2010, with its nominal house price index surpassing 342 points in early 2024. However, when adjusted for inflation, Mexico showed the highest inflation-adjusted percentage increase in house prices, growing by nearly five percent in the first quarter of 2024, contrasting with a global decline of one percent. Home financing in Mexico The methods of home financing vary across Latin America. A breakdown of homeownership by financing method in Mexico reveals that about two-thirds of owner-occupied housing units were financed through personal resources in 2022. Nevertheless, government-backed loans such as Infonavit (Mexico’s National Housing Fund Institute), Fovissste (Housing Fund of the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers), and Fonhapo (National Fund for Popular Housing), play an important role for homebuyers, with just over 20 percent of home purchases relying on such finance. Bank credit, which offers mortgage loans with interest rates ranging between nine and 12 percent, appeared as a less popular option.

This feature layer provides access to OpenStreetMap (OSM) waterways data for South America, which is updated every 15 minutes with the latest edits. This hosted feature layer view is referencing a hosted feature layer of OSM line (way) data in ArcGIS Online that is updated with minutely diffs from the OSM planet file. This feature layer view includes waterway features defined as a query against the hosted feature layer (i.e. waterway is not blank).In OSM, a waterway describes rivers, streams and ditches with a flow of water from one place to another. These features are identified with a waterway tag. There are hundreds of different tag values for waterway used in the OSM database. In this feature layer, unique symbols are used for several of the most popular waterway types, while lesser used types are grouped in an "other" category.Zoom in to large scales (e.g. City level or 1:80k scale) to see the waterway features display. You can click on a feature to get the name of the waterway (if available). The name of the waterway will display by default at large scales (e.g. Street level of 1:5k scale). Labels can be turned off in your map if you prefer.Create New LayerIf you would like to create a more focused version of this waterway layer displaying just one or two waterway types, you can do that easily! Just add the layer to a map, copy the layer in the content window, add a filter to the new layer (e.g. waterway is dam), rename the layer as appropriate, and save layer. You can also change the layer symbols or popup if you like. Esri may publish a few such layers (e.g. streams and rivers) that are ready to use, but not for every type of waterway.Important Note: if you do create a new layer, it should be provided under the same Terms of Use and include the same Credits as this layer. You can copy and paste the Terms of Use and Credits info below in the new Item page as needed.

Mexico City was the most competitive city to host business events in Latin America in 2022/2023. The Mexican capital scored 519 points on the Competitive Index, leading runner-up destination Rio de Janeiro by about 27 index points. Two Colombian cities were featured in Latin America's ranking for business conventions in 2022/2023.

This feature layer provides access to OpenStreetMap (OSM) tourist attraction point data for South America, which is updated every 5 minutes with the latest edits. This hosted feature layer view is referencing a hosted feature layer of OSM point (node) data in ArcGIS Online that is updated with minutely diffs from the OSM planet file. This feature layer view includes tourism features defined as a query against the hosted feature layer (i.e. tourism is not blank).In OSM, tourism features are places and things of specific interest to tourists including places to see, places to stay, things and places providing information and support to tourists. These features are identified with a tourism tag. There are hundreds of different tag values used in the OSM database. In this feature layer, unique symbols are used for several of the most popular tourism types, while lesser used types are grouped in an "other" category.Zoom in to large scales (e.g. Cities level or 1:160k scale) to see the tourism features display. You can click on a feature to get the name of the tourism feature. The name of the feature will display by default at very large scales (e.g. Building level of 1:2k scale). Labels can be turned off in your map if you prefer.Create New LayerIf you would like to create a more focused version of this tourism layer displaying just one or two tourism types, you can do that easily! Just add the layer to a map, copy the layer in the content window, add a filter to the new layer (e.g. tourism is ruin), rename the layer as appropriate, and save layer. You can also change the layer symbols or popup if you like.Important Note: if you do create a new layer, it should be provided under the same Terms of Use and include the same Credits as this layer. You can copy and paste the Terms of Use and Credits info below in the new Item page as needed.

Latin America Digital Signage Market size was valued at USD 1.57 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 1.91 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 2.48% from 2024 to 2031.

Key Market Drivers:

Urbanization and Smart City Initiatives: According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin America’s growing urbanization and government funding for smart city projects are driving the expansion of digital signage. Cities such as Mexico City and São Paulo are investing significantly on digital infrastructure.

Growth in Digital Advertising: According to Statista, the digital advertising business in Latin America developed at a 14% annual rate between 2020 and 2023, driving demand for digital signage. Brazil, in particular, is leading the way, with digital signage projected to rise by more than 15% each year through 2030.

The South American Internet of Things (IoT) Marketsize was valued at USD 544.38 USD Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 2495.74 USD Billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 24.3 % during the forecast period. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a digital connection of objects, devices, people, animals, and other entities through the use of the Internet. This varies from the basic simple electrical appliances in our homes to the most complex tools required in technologies and industries. The Main IoT forms are consumer IoT (smart homes and wearables), industrial IoT (industrial assets like machinery, and smart factories), and infrastructural IoT (smart cities and energy networks). The main concepts are dynamic views, ML capabilities, and the possibility to access it from a distance. Use ranges from; health care, agriculture, industries, and cities. The description of IoT indicators and their markets in South America shows the further development of this technology, necessitated by advanced smart city projects and agriculture, as well as the growth of its usage in manufacturing firms. Key drivers for this market are: Rising Adoption of Innovative Technologies to Make Smart Evacuation Procedures Smooth to Boost Market Growth. Potential restraints include: Poor Telecommunication Infrastructure and Heavy Regulations to Hamper the Market Progress. Notable trends are: Growing Implementation of Touch-based and Voice-based Infotainment Systems to Increase Adoption of Intelligent Cars.

This statistic illustrates the air pollution level in South American cities as of 2018. In that year, with a PM10 average of 95 microgram per cubic meter, Santa Gertrudes in Brazil was the most polluted city in South America.