Countries in South America: the list of all 12 countries and their capitals
There are 12 countries in South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, all of them UN member states. French Guiana, part of France, and the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory, are territories, not countries. Bolivia has two capitals, Sucre and La Paz.
How many countries are in South America, and what are their capitals? The count is the most settled of any continent, but two territories and one isthmus cause confusion. This guide states the counting rule, the UN M49 standard, writes out all 12 South American countries with their capitals, explains the territories and the capitals with a twist, and shows how to learn them in a free world capitals trainer.
Key ideas
- South America has 12 sovereign countries, all UN members; the count is the same in the UN M49 standard and in the usual lists.
- French Guiana (France), the Falkland Islands and South Georgia (United Kingdom) are territories, not countries; M49 also lists Bouvet Island.
- Panama is counted in North America; the boundary with South America is usually drawn along the Colombia–Panama border.
- Bolivia has two capitals: Sucre in the constitution and La Paz as the seat of government, the highest administrative capital in the world.
How many countries are in South America?
There are 12 countries in South America. This guide counts them with the M49 standard of the United Nations Statistics Division, where South America is a part of the region Latin America and the Caribbean, within the Americas. All 12 are UN member states. M49 lists four more areas in South America that are not countries: Bouvet Island, the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Guiana, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The northern edge of the continent is at the Isthmus of Panama. The most common boundary follows the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border, and virtually all atlases put Panama entirely in North America or Central America. The world capitals tool follows the same school convention: it splits the Americas into North and South America and assigns Central America and the Caribbean to North America, so Panama, and Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, are not in the South American list.
The territories have their own capitals but are not sovereign states. French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France, with its capital at Cayenne, so it is part of a European country. The Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory with their capital at Stanley; M49 gives them both names, Falkland Islands (Malvinas). South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are another British Overseas Territory, administered from King Edward Point. That is why lists of South America show 12 sovereign states and 3 dependent territories.
List of South American countries and their capitals
Here are all 12 countries of South America with their capitals, in alphabetical order: Argentina — Buenos Aires, Bolivia — Sucre (seat of government La Paz), Brazil — Brasília, Chile — Santiago, Colombia — Bogotá, Ecuador — Quito, Guyana — Georgetown, Paraguay — Asunción, Peru — Lima, Suriname — Paramaribo, Uruguay — Montevideo, Venezuela — Caracas. For nine of the twelve countries the capital is simply one city; Bolivia is the only one with two capitals, and Chile and Peru keep some national institutions in other cities, as the next section explains.
Which South American capitals are tricky?
Bolivia has two capitals. Sucre is the constitutional capital, and La Paz is the administrative capital and seat of government; at 3,650 metres, La Paz is the highest administrative capital in the world, while Quito, Ecuador’s capital at 2,850 metres, is the highest official capital. Chile’s capital is Santiago, but its National Congress sits in Valparaíso. Peru’s capital is Lima; its constitution calls Cusco the historical capital, a symbolic title, and Arequipa is sometimes called the legal capital because the Constitutional Court sits there. Brazil’s capital is Brasília, a planned city; Rio de Janeiro was the capital until 1960.
A few slips are common. Brazil’s capital is Brasília, not Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, and Ecuador’s is Quito, not Guayaquil. The three Guianas on the north coast are easy to mix up: Guyana’s capital is Georgetown, Suriname’s is Paramaribo, and Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, which is not a country. The two countries ending in “-guay” are a pair too: Uruguay has Montevideo and Paraguay has Asunción.
How to learn the capitals of South America
With only 12 countries, South America is the easiest continent to learn in one sitting. Go through the list once, then quiz yourself country → capital, then capital → country, and spend the extra minutes on the pairs above: the three Guianas, Uruguay and Paraguay, and Bolivia’s two capitals. Once South America is solid, it is a good base before the much longer lists of Africa and Asia.
The free world capitals tool at VITON13 SCHOOL lets you do all of that. Its searchable list contains all 195 countries, the 193 UN members and the 2 observer states, with their capitals, and the continent filter leaves only the 12 South American countries. In the trainer, choose South America, pick country → capital or capital → country, answer by typing or with multiple choice and follow your score. When the round is over, start “repeat my mistakes” to practise only what you missed. To link each name to a shape on the map, play the find-the-country quiz on the interactive world map.
In everyday language
South America is a street with 12 houses, each with its own front door: the capital. Next to them stand a few garden sheds that belong to families living far away. French Guiana belongs to France, and the Falklands and South Georgia to the United Kingdom, so they are on the street but they are not houses of their own.
Try it yourself
Open the world capitals tool, filter the list to South America and check that it shows 12 countries. Then start the trainer for South America, capital → country, with typed answers, and finish one round and a “repeat my mistakes” round.
Expected result
Twelve countries in the South America filter, with no French Guiana or Falkland Islands among them; a score after the first round, and a second round made only of the ones you missed.
Check your answer: Match Georgetown, Paramaribo and Cayenne to Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Which of the three is not a country?
Guyana — Georgetown, Suriname — Paramaribo, French Guiana — Cayenne. French Guiana is not a country: it is an overseas department and region of France.
Questions
Is Panama in South America?
No. The usual boundary between the continents runs along the Colombia–Panama border, and virtually all atlases put Panama in North America or Central America.
Is French Guiana a country?
No. French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France, with its capital at Cayenne. In the same way, the Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory, not a country.
South America has 12 countries and three territories that are not countries. Learn all 12 capitals in one session in the free VITON13 SCHOOL world capitals trainer, both ways round, remember Bolivia’s two capitals, and finish with a round of your own mistakes.