South America, the fourth-largest of the Earth's seven continents (after Asia, Africa, and North America), occupying about 17,819,100 sq km (6,880,000 sq mi), or about 12 per cent of the Earth's land surface. It lies across the equator and tropic of Capricorn and is joined by the Isthmus of Panama, on the north, to Central and North America. The continent extends about 7,400 km (4,600 mi) from the Caribbean Sea on the north to Cape Horn on the south, and it spans some 4,830 km (3,000 mi) between its easternmost point, Cabo de Sao Roque on the Atlantic Ocean, and Punta de Parinas on the Pacific Ocean.
