South America.

• Position: Population, head of government and political system followed - Geographic overview - Table

At home in VENEZUELA or addressing the U.N. in New York, President Hugo Chavez continues to rail against the U.S., attempting to stoke anti-American feeling in the rest of Latin American. Chavez has been using oil revenue--Venezuela is the world's 10th-largest producer--to support socialist regimes in CUBA and BOLIVIA.

Continued encroachment upon the Amazon, the world's largest rain forest, has environmental implications not only for BRAZIL but the entire world. With a population of 187 million. Brazil is one of the world's most populous democracies. It occupies almost all half of South America' land masses and its economy is the largest on the continent.

SOUTH AMERICA URBAN AREA (SQ MI) POP. % POP. RISE COUNTRY POPULATION %/YEAR CAPITAL ARGENTINA 1,073,514 89 BUENOS 39,000,000 1.1 AIRES BOLIVIA 424,162 63 LA PAZ 9,100,000 2.2 & SUCRE BRAZIL 3,300,154 81 BRASILIA 186,800,000 1.4 CHILE 292,135 87 SANTIAGO 16,400,000 1.0 COLOMBIA 439,734 75 BOGOTA 46,800,000 1.5 ECUADOR 109,483 61 QUITO 13,300,000 2.1 GUYANA 83,000 36 GEORGETOWN 700,000 1.3 PARAGUAY 157,046 57 ASUNCION 6,300,000 1.7 PERU 496,224 73 LIMA 28,400,000 1.3 SURINAME 63,039 74 PARAMARIBO 500,000 1.4 URUGUAY 68,498 93 MONTEVIDEO 3,300,000 0.5 VENEZUELA 352,143 88 CARACAS 27,000,000 1.7 COUNTRY MAJOR LANGUAGES ARGENTINA Spanish English Italian German & French BOLIVIA Spanish Quechua Aymara BRAZIL Portuguese Amerindian dialects CHILE Spanish COLOMBIA Spanish ECUADOR Spanish Amerindian dialects GUYANA English Amerindian dialects PARAGUAY Spanish Guarani PERU Spanish Quechua Aymara SURINAME Dutch, English, Sranang, Tongo, Hindustani & Javanese URUGUAY Spanish Portunol Brazilero VENEZUELA Spanish...