South America Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
continent
About South America
Before the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century, the continent was home to different native American peoples, the most prominent being the Incas, whose empire stretched across much of the Andes, along theInca Trailsthat are popular with trekkers today. Warfare and new diseases the colonizers brought with them afflicted the native population. Eventually the entire continent was conquered by Spain and Portugal, with some other countries establishing colonies in the northeast, one of which —French Guianastill belongs to a European nation. The last indigenous polity to hold out was the Mapuche in what is now Southern Chile, who were only conquered after Chilean independence. As a legacy of this, virtually all of the continent is today either Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking; neverthele
South America Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 18 sections including: