The statistic shows the largest countries in South America, based on land area. Brazil is the largest country by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers, followed by Argentina, with almost 2.8 million square kilometers.

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.

In 2024, Brazil and Mexico were expected to be the countries with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean. In that year, Brazil's GDP could reach an estimated value of 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars, whereas Mexico's amounted to almost two trillion U.S. dollars. GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a given year. It measures the economic strength of a country and a positive change indicates economic growth.

In 2024, it was estimated that approximately 662 million people lived in Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil is the most populated country in the region, with an estimated 211.999 million inhabitants in that year, followed by Mexico with more than 130.861 million.

Russia is the largest country in the world by far, with a total area of just over 17 million square kilometers. After Antarctica, the next three countries are Canada, the U.S., and China; all between 9.5 and 10 million square kilometers. The figures given include internal water surface area (such as lakes or rivers) - if the figures were for land surface only then China would be the second largest country in the world, the U.S. third, and Canada (the country with more lakes than the rest of the world combined) fourth. Russia Russia has a population of around 145 million people, putting it in the top ten most populous countries in the world, and making it the most populous in Europe. However, it's vast size gives it a very low population density, ranked among the bottom 20 countries. Most of Russia's population is concentrated in the west, with around 75 percent of the population living in the European part, while around 75 percent of Russia's territory is in Asia; the Ural Mountains are considered the continental border. Elsewhere in the world Beyond Russia, the world's largest countries all have distinctive topographies and climates setting them apart. The United States, for example, has climates ranging from tundra in Alaska to tropical forests in Florida, with various mountain ranges, deserts, plains, and forests in between. Populations in these countries are often concentrated in urban areas, and are not evenly distributed across the country. For example, around 85 percent of Canada's population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border; around 95 percent of China lives east of the Heihe–Tengchong Line that splits the country; and the majority of populations in large countries such as Australia or Brazil live near the coast.

As of 2021, Ecuador had a population density of ** people per squared kilometer, the highest in South America. Colombia ranked second, with ** people per km2 of land area. When it comes to total population in South America, Brazil had the largest number, with over *** million inhabitants.

In 2025, approximately 23 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the sixth 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 22.75 million inhabitants. Brazil's cities Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 11.45 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.21 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 88 percent of inhabitants living in cities. Mexico City Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks sevenths 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 2023, the city registered a crime incidence of 52,723 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 24 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

As of February 2025, more than ** percent of the population of Uruguay was on social media. On the other hand, approximately ** percent of Haitians used social networking platforms. Among the largest Latin American markets, Brazil had the lowest social media penetration rate at **** percent, just below Colombia and Argentina. Online networking among Chilean young adults intensifies Young adults are the primary audience of social media in Chile. Nearly half of all Facebook users in the South American country were between 18 and 34 years old. The same age group accounted for almost ** percent of Chilean users of LinkedIn. This generation has also been devoting more of its time to this type of online activity. Obstacles for the expansion of social media in Brazil A handful of issues still set part of Latin America's online population apart from social networks. Despite having the biggest social media audiences in Latin America, countries like Brazil and Mexico still struggled to provide internet access to their populations, thus hindering social media penetration rates.

As of 2023, Venezuela registered a population growth of *** percent, the highest in South America. Bolivia came in second, with *** percent, followed by Paraguay, with *** percent. When it comes to total population in South America, Brazil had the largest number, with over *** million inhabitants this same year.

As of February 2025, Brazil had approximately 183 million internet users. That is more than Mexico and Argentina combined, the two ranking second and third respectively. Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic featured the largest number of internet users.

Guyana was the South American country 20360the highest gross national income per capita, with 20,360 U.S. dollars per person in 2023. Uruguay ranked second, registering a GNI of 19,530 U.S. dollars per person, based on current prices. Gross national income (GNI) is the aggregated sum of the value added by residents in an economy, plus net taxes (minus subsidies) and net receipts of primary income from abroad. Which are the largest Latin American economies? Based on annual gross domestic product, which is the total amount of goods and services produced in a country per year, Brazil leads the regional ranking, followed by Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Many Caribbean countries and territories hold the highest GDP per capita in this region, measurement that reflects how GDP would be divided if it was perfectly equally distributed among the population. GNI per capita is, however, a more exact calculation of wealth than GDP per capita, as it takes into consideration taxes paid and income receipts from abroad. How much inequality is there in Latin America? In many Latin American countries, more than half the total wealth created in their economies is held by the richest 20 percent of the population. When a small share of the population concentrates most of the wealth, millions of people don't have enough to make ends meet. For instance, in Brazil, about 5.32 percent of the population lives on less than 3.2 U.S. dollars per day.

Brazil, the most populated country and the economy with the highest GDP in Latin America, had the largest market research revenue in the region in 2022. Out of all the Latin American and Caribbean countries included in the study, Brazil ranked first, with a market research revenue of *** million U.S. dollars, followed by Mexico, with *** million U.S. dollars.

Brazil is the Latin American country affected the most by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 2025, the country had reported around 38 million cases. It was followed by Argentina, with approximately ten million confirmed cases of COVID-19. In total, the region had registered more than 83 million diagnosed patients, as well as a growing number of fatal COVID-19 cases. The research marathon Normally, the development of vaccines takes years of research and testing until options are available to the general public. However, with an alarming and threatening situation as that of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists quickly got on board in a vaccine marathon to develop a safe and effective way to prevent and control the spread of the virus in record time. Over two years after the first cases were reported, the world had around 1,521 drugs and vaccines targeting the COVID-19 disease. As of June 2022, a total of 39 candidates were already launched and countries all over the world had started negotiations and acquisition of the vaccine, along with immunization campaigns. COVID vaccination rates in Latin America As immunization against the spread of the disease continues to progress, regional disparities in vaccination coverage persist. While Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico were among the Latin American nations with the most COVID-19 cases, those that administered the highest number of COVID-19 doses per 100 population are Cuba, Chile, and Peru. Leading the vaccination coverage in the region is the Caribbean nation, with more than 406 COVID-19 vaccines administered per every 100 inhabitants as of January 5, 2024.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In 2024, Brazil was Latin America's largest mobile advertising market, with a forecast mobile ad spending of approximately **** billion U.S. dollars. Mexico and Argentina followed with around ***** billion and *** billion dollars, respectively.

As of 2023, Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounted to more than *** trillion US dollars. That amount was not only more than all other South American countries' GPDs combined, but also puts Brazil in 8th place worldwide. Argentina came in second, with around *** billion USD this same year.

Brazil is the country with the largest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Latin America. As of February 26, 2020 only one infection had been reported in Brazil. By August 19, 2021, the figure had exceeded 20 million. São Paulo is the state with the largest number of patients in the South American country.

Brazil is by far the largest coffee producing country in Latin America, with an average annual production of more than ** million 60-kilogram bags. In the 2023/24 crop year, the country reached an output of **** million bags, representing over one third of the global coffee production that year. Colombia ranked second in the region, with almost **** million bags produced. Brazil: a robust coffee producer Even on a global scale, Brazil leads its competitors by a wide margin. Home to most of the world’s arabica beans, the Portuguese speaking nation produces more coffee than Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia combined. However, Brazil’s numbers falter when it comes to exports to United States, who make up the largest population of coffee consumers in the world. In 2021, Colombia led the coffee import market in the U.S., surpassing Brazil by about 100 million U.S. dollars. Colombia: a competitive coffee market Famous for its mild arabica roast, Colombia’s presence as a competitive coffee powerhouse goes without saying. In 2021, the South American country’s coffee exports generated over ***** billion U.S. dollars. That same year, Colombia’s coffee imports amounted to approximately *** thousand tons, while domestic consumption was estimated at over *** million bags. Ultimately, with a population of ** million people, Colombia is a significant coffee player in both production and consumption.

Among selected South American countries, Brazil ranked as the economy with the largest forecast gross expenditure on research & development (GERD) in 2022, with a total of ** billion U.S. dollars in PPP terms. Argentina followed in a distant second place, with GERD amounting to **** billion dollars. Paraguay was the country of the selection with the lowest forecast expenditure, **** billion dollars.

In 2022, Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for around ****** million social media users, ranking as the fifth most popular region for this type of platform worldwide. Brazil and Mexico were the countries with the continent’s biggest social network audiences, registering ****** million and ***** million users each in the measured period. Additionally, Brazil is also the fifth largest market for social media worldwide.

Meta’s new contenders

The products owned by social media giant Meta (formerly known as Facebook Inc.) still reign across the social media landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean, as Facebook is still used by almost ** percent of the continent’s population. However, new competitors like Telegram and content-focused networks like TikTok are challenging Meta’s hegemony. The ByteDance-owned company TikTok has already surpassed Instagram in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru regarding the number of users, becoming the second-largest network in these countries.

Hardships on internet access

Even though Latin America increases its connectivity in traffic via mobile devices, the inequality in access to the internet throughout the continent also is also reflected in the presence of its populations on social media platforms. Almost ** percent of people living in South America have access to these networks, against ** percent of those living in Central America and only ** percent of those living in the Caribbean.

Throughout 2024, Brazil reported nearly 279,000 wildfire outbreaks, by far the highest figure in South America. Bolivia registered the second-largest number of wildfires in the region that year, at over 90,000. On the other hand, 276 wildfires were detected in Uruguay during the reported period, the lowest number amongst South American countries and territories. The lungs of the world Spanning nine different countries, the Amazon rainforest makes up approximately 40 percent of South America. Predominantly encompassed by Brazil, the government has made some efforts towards protecting what is left of the world's most abundant tropical rainforest. Over five million square kilometers of land area lie under a special regime designated as the Legal Amazon in Brazil. Nevertheless, wildfires in the region remain a cause for concern. In 2024, over 192,000 outbreaks were registered in the Legal Amazon, accounting for more than half of the country's occurrences that year. Brazil's blind ambition At the heart of the issue of wildfires is deforestation as a technique to expand land for farming and pastures. Along with the incremental rise in wildfires, the Amazon's deforestation rate has seen a continual increase for most of the decade. As Brazil climbs global markets to become the leading producer of soybean and beef, the country's agricultural ambitions have led to the lightening of environmental restrictions and the re-allocation of land for farming purposes. In turn, the area planted with crops in the Legal Amazon has nearly tripled since 2000.