Everything about Southern Cone totally explained
Cono Sur redirects to this page. For the subregion of the Lima Metropolitan Area of Peru, see Cono Sur (Lima)
The term
Southern Cone (
Spanish:
Cono Sur,
Portuguese:
Cone Sul) refers to a geographic region composed of the southernmost areas of
South America, below the
Tropic of Capricorn. The region includes all of
Argentina,
Chile and
Uruguay, and sometimes
Paraguay and southern portions of
Brazil which include the Brazilian states of
Rio Grande do Sul,
Santa Catarina,
Paraná and
São Paulo.
Language
The main language spoken is
Spanish (
castellano) owing to the Spanish colonization from the
16th to the
19th century; if one includes Brazil,
Portuguese places a close second.
Autochthonous languages, spoken by some
Amerindian groups include
Mapudungun (also known as Mapuche) and
Guarani.
Italian (mostly its
Northern dialects, such as
Venetian) is spoken in rural communities across
Argentina and
Southern Brazil.
German in some dialects is mostly spoken in Southern Brazil, Southern Argentina and in some communities in
Southern Chile.
Furthermore
English is spoken in the
Falkland Islands, a disputed territory between the
U.K. (inhabited by
British subjects) and Argentina.
Welsh is spoken by descendants of
immigrants in the
Patagonia region of Argentina.
Japanese has speakers in communities of
Southeastern Brazil and
Korean in the main cities.
Portuñol, Portunhol in Portuguese, is a pidgin language of
Brazilian Portuguese and
Spanish that's spoken in the border with Brazil.
The overwhelming majority though, including those of recent
immigrant background, speak
castellano (in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay) and Portuguese (in Brazil) as the first language.
Demographics and Ethnicity
The population of these countries: Argentina (39.3 million), Chile (16.4 million) and Uruguay (3.6 million).
Buenos Aires is the largest metropolitan area at 13.1 million and
Santiago, Chile has 6.4 million. When southern Brazil is included,
São Paulo is the largest city, with 19.8 million. Uruguay's capital and largest city,
Montevideo, has 1.8 million, and it receives many visitors on ferry boats across the
Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires, 50 km (35 miles) away.
As far as ethnicity is concerned, the population of the Southern Cone is racially and culturally very similar to the
European making up about 80 percent of the total population, being majority in
Argentina,
Uruguay and Southern
Brazil, and a significant part of the Chilean population. Mestizos make up 17% of the population, being majority in
Paraguay and
Chile, though their characteristics lean towards the nations of Southern Europe.
Native Americans make up 2% of the population, and
mulattoes, mostly in Southern Brazil and Uruguay, the remaining 1%.
Argentina is a melting pot of different peoples, both autochthonous and immigrants. Citizens of
European descent make up the great majority of the population, with estimates varying from white 89.7% to 97% of the total population. The last national census, based on self-ascription, indicated a similar figure. Nonetheless, a study conducted by the Genetic Department of the University of Buenos Aires, and confirmed by other research studies, estimated that 56% of the Argentine population had at least one
Amerindian ancestor, though not fully visible in physical appearance, on either the paternal or maternal lineages and 10% of the population had Amerindian ancestors on both lineages.
Meanwhile, although the majority of the population of
Paraguay is composed of
mestizos (mixed European &
Amerindian), the European contribution has impacted significantly. It isn't uncommon for the admixture in their mestizos to lean more towards the European element, as opposed to a relatively equal amount of both in the rest of
Latin America, and in some cases it's the only discernible element. This situation has led to the often contentious question on the proportion of
white people. Paraguay has an undetermined number of unmixed White Europeans, as well as a visible
Amerindian minority.
The bulk of the Chilean population features a white and white mestizo composition, the product of
miscegenation between colonial
Spanish immigrants and
Amerindian females.. Whites are mostly Spanish in origin (mainly
Castilians,
Andalusians and
Basques), and to a lesser degree from Chile's various waves of immigrants (
Italians,
Germans,
Israelis,
Yugoslavians,
Arabs, etc.). Foreigners have always been scarce in Chile. In the 1960 census they numbered 105,000 (55% being Spanish, Germans, Italians or
Argentines, in that order). Besides being small in number, they mixed quickly with the locals. The black population was always scant, reaching a high of 25,000 during the colonial period; its racial contribution is less than 1%. The current Native American population is relatively small (see below) according to the censuses; their numbers are augmented when one takes into consideration those that are physically similar, and those that are linguistically or socially thought to belong to them.
Education and Standards of Living
The other conspicuous characteristic of the Southern Cone is its relatively high
standard of living and
quality of life. The
Argentina's and
Chile’s
HDIs—(0.869), (0.863) the highest in Latin America—are similar to those of the richest countries in
Eastern Europe, such as
Slovenia,
Croatia or
Hungary.
Uruguay, where illiteracy technically doesn't exist, reaches the same level in this area, even considering that it faces restrictions to its industrial and economic growth.
Argentina and
Chile are considered developed countries when it comes to human development, since their high indices of 0.869 and 0.863 respectively surpass many places in
Europe and other industrialized regions. High
life expectancy, health and education access, significant participation in the global markets and the emerging economy profile of its members make the Southern Cone the most prosperous macro-region in Latin America.
Religion
The overwhelming majority is
Roman Catholic, but there are
Muslims,
Anglicans,
Eastern Orthodox,
Buddhists and
Daoists.
Jewish communities thrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay. Despite some parts of the Southern cone's religious conservatism, it never curtailed the region's characteristics of social reform.
Uruguay, where
agnosticism and
atheism is very common, has a strong church and state separation policy and could be considered the most
secular country in
Latin America. The more conservative
Chile only recently passed a law to legalize divorce, contrasting with Brazil and Argentina, countries where gay union is already possible in some regions.
Geography
The climates are mostly temperate, but include humid subtropical, Mediterranean, highland tropical, maritime temperate, sub-Antarctic temperate, highland cold, desert and semi-arid temperate regions. Except for northern regions of Argentina (
Thermal equator in January), the whole country of Paraguay, the Argentina-Brazil border and the interior of the
Atacama desert, the region rarely suffers from intense heat. In addition to that, the winter presents mostly cool temperatures, except for the
Andes and
Patagonia desert (almost unoccupied regions). Strong and constant wind and high humidity is what brings sensation of low temperatures in the winter. The Atacama is the driest place on Earth.
Botany
The most peculiar plant of the region is the
Araucaria tree (
pinus) which can be found in Argentina and Chile. The only native species of
pinus found in the southern hemisphere had its origin in the Southern Cone.
Araucaria angustifolia, once widespread in Southern Brazil, is now a critically endangered species. The steppe region, situated in central Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil is known as the
Pampas, and the typical people of the region are a mixture of
Spanish and some Amerindian blood, and are called
Gauchos. Maritime tropical trees,
tundra, Mediterranean vegetation and desert plants are also natural occurrences. Besides
Antarctica,
Patagonia is the cleanest place on earth.
Politics
During the second half of
20th century, these countries were often ruled by
juntas, military nationalistic dictatorships.
Around the
1970s, these regimes collaborated in
Plan Cóndor against leftist opposition, including
urban guerrillas.
However, by the
1990s, these countries restored democracies.
Currently, Argentine President
Cristina Kirchner and Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet have restored credible and reformist governments.
Uruguay has a liberal and secular tradition where their social welfare policies, freedom rights history and democratic stability are sometimes held as the "
Switzerland of Latin America". For information on countries' political histories, see
Argentina,
Chile and
Uruguay.
Inclusion of Brazil
When only entire countries are included, in most of cases only Argentina, Uruguay and Chile are included in the Southern Cone. In some other definitions, when used for describing the countries under military dictatorship during the middle of
20th Century, Brazil is fully included, although most of the Brazilian lands are geographically outside the Southern Cone.
Nowadays, the southernmost states of Brazil (the states of
São Paulo,
Paraná,
Santa Catarina and
Rio Grande do Sul,) are generally included because they share the same characteristics with Uruguay, Argentina and Chile: above average standard of living, mild climate (the states of
Santa Catarina and
Rio Grande do Sul receive snowfalls every year), high level of industrialization and strong European immigration. Parts of the Brazilian states of
Rio de Janeiro and
Minas Gerais also share the same characteristics.
Exclusion of Paraguay
Due to the geographic position and the past military dictatorship, Paraguay is often included in the
Southern Cone . But, due to its great
poverty, non-industrialized trait and mostly
tropical climate, in opposition to the other countries of the Southern Cone, it's many times excluded from the definition.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Southern Cone'.
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