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The term Southern Cone (Spanish: Cono Sur, Portuguese: Cone Sul) refers to a geographic region composed of the southernmost areas of South America. Typically, it includes Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and southernmost Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná and São Paulo). Rarely is Bolivia included, though it forms a geographic part of the region. Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are always included.
Language
The main languages spoken are Spanish and Portuguese, and the autochthonous Aymara, Guaraní, Mapudungun (or Mapuche), and Quechua. Furthermore English is spoken in the Falkland Islands, a disputed territory between the U.K. ( inhabited by British subjects) and Argentina. Italian, French, and Welsh are spoken by descendants of immigrants in Argentina, and to a lesser extent the same is true for German and Korean in Chile, and the aforementioned, less Korean plus Japanese and Italian in Brazil. Generally speaking what goes for Argentina goes for Uruguay; where Portuñol, Portunhol in Portuguese, a pidgin language of Brazilian Portuguese and Rioplatense Spanish is spoken by a large amount of the populace.
English and French are studied and understood by the upper middle classes and upper classes in Brazil and the rest of the southern cone. Lebanese and Syrian immigrants speak Arabic in Buenos Aires and São Paulo, some descendants of Welsh settlers in Trelew-Rawson, Argentina preserved their Celtic language, and some Basque of French origin brought the ancient Basque language into Chile.
People, education, and standards of living
In contrast to most of Latin America, the populations of Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil are composed in their majority by people of unmixed — or apparently unmixed — White European origin, with relatively small numbers of people who are of visibly mixed race; mestizos and mulattos. They also retain almost no indigenous Amerindian population, and in Uruguay's case the indigenous population is now extinct.
Meanwhile, although the majority of the population of Paraguay and Chile is composed of mestizos (mixed European & Amerindian), it is not uncommon for the admixture to lean more towards the European element (as opposed to a relatively equal amount of both) and in some cases it is the only discernable element. Both countries do also have an undetermined number of unmixed White Europeans, as well as a visible Amerindian minority.
The other distinguished and probably most significant characteristic of the southern cone is the high average of standards of living and life quality. Although Brazil is known for its considerable inequality of opportunities, the southern region’s HDI (human development index) can be compared to countries like Croatia and Slovakia and Latvia. Uruguay, where illiteracy technically doesn't exist, reaches the same level of this social development even facing natural restrictions to industrial and economical growth. Argentina and Chile are considered developed countries when it comes to human development, since their high indexes of 0.86 and 0.85 respectively surpass many places in Europe and other industralized regions. High life expectancy, health and education access, significant participation on the world’s economy and profile of emergent economy make the southern cone the most prosperous macro-region of Latin America.
In terms of religion, the overwhelmingly majority are Christian and Roman Catholic, but there are Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Mormons and other Christians. Jewish communities thrive in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Despite the Southern cone's religious conservatism, it never curtailed the region's characteristics of social reform. Uruguay has a strong church and state separation policy, Chile passed a law to legalize divorce and Brazil has a recent trend in tolerance of the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
The population of the mentioned countries: Argentina (38 million), Chile (16 million) and Uruguay (4 million) respectively. Southern Brazil's three states, including São Paulo state, are home to over 65 million out of Brazil's 180 million people, especially the megacity of São Paulo has an estimate of 12 million residents. Buenos Aires is second largest at 10 million and Santiago, Chile has 3.5 million. Uruguay's capital and largest city, Montevideo, has 2.5 million, and it receives many visitors on ferry boats across the Rio de La Plata from Buenos Aires, 50 km (35 miles) away.
Historical traits, climate, and peculiarities
Although many theorists link development with the temperate region it is clear that the European objective in colonizing this region was to promote new perspective of life in opposition to most Latin American regions as well as Africa and Asia, where colonization meant enriching the colony. People who occupied the region were running from wars, starving in their own country or searching for personal prosperity in all periods since the discovery. Durign the late 19th century and the early 20th century, they welcomed immigration mainly from Europe and the Levant. This formed multiethnic societies later fused through the Iberian languages and Catholic religion.
The climates are humid subtropical, mediterranean, highland tropical, maritime temperate, sub-Antarctic temperate, highland cold, desert and semi-arid temperate. Except for northern regions of Argentina (Thermal Equator in January), the whole country of Paraguay and regions like Porto Alegre, 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.
The most peculiar plant of the region is the Araucaria tree (pinus) which can be found in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. 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 Portuguese, 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 Nestor Kirchner and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet have restored credible and reformist governments. Uruguay has a liberal and secular tradition and its social welfare policies are sometimes held as the "Swiss Of Latin America". For information on countries' political histories, see Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
See also
Cono Sur | Konuso Suda | Cône Sud | Južni konus | Suðurkeilan | Cone Sul | Южный конус | Južni konus
"Southern Cone"