Southern Cone

In terms of geography, the Southern Cone comprises Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, and sometimes includes Brazil's four southernmost states (Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo).

The Southern Cone is the subregion in Latin America with the highest Human Development Index, and it has historically had a high standard of living; it is located at latitudes in the southern hemisphere that would correspond in the northern hemisphere to the United States, Canadian provinces, European countries (except the Nordic countries), northern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

[2][3] In most cases, the term "Southern Cone" refers specifically to Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, due to their geographical, cultural, ethnic, and economic similarities.

Brazil's four southernmost states (Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo) share characteristics with Argentina, and Uruguay (high standard of living, subtropical and temperate climate, high levels of industrialization and strong European ethnic component due to immigration), the other states are more similar to the other South American countries in these issues.

Economically, Paraguay has a lower Human Development Index (HDI) compared to the Southern Cone countries, which rank among the highest in Latin America.

The Atacama, Patagonian and Monte deserts form a diagonal of arid lands separating the woodlands, croplands and pastures of La Plata basin from Central and Southern Chile.

In the east the river systems of the La Plata basin form natural barriers and sea lanes between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Besides sharing languages and colonial heritage, in this area, there was extensive European immigration during the 19th- and 20th-centuries, who, with their descendants, have strongly influenced the culture, social life and politics of these countries.

Gauchos (Argentina and Uruguay) and Huasos (Chile) are horsemen that are considered icons of national identity (like cowboys); they are featured in the epic poem Martín Fierro.

Other religions also present in the southern cone include Islam, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Buddhism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Daoism.

According to the Pew Research Center, 28% of Uruguayans, 43% of Argentines, and 41% of Chileans think of religion 'very important in their lives,' contrasting with the higher values given by the residents of countries such as Peru (72%), Colombia (77%) and Ecuador (76%).

[12] In a 2014 social survey, residents rated their countries as 'good places for gay or lesbian people to live;' the following percentages said 'yes' in Uruguay (71%), Argentina (68%), and Chile (52%).

[17] The overwhelming majority, including those of recent immigrant background, speak Spanish (in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay) or Portuguese in the case of Southern Brazil.

Minor languages and dialects include Cordobés, Cuyo, and Portuñol, a hybrid between Rioplatense and Brazilian Portuguese that is spoken in Uruguay on the border with Brazil.

Some Native American groups, especially in rural areas, continue to speak autochthonous languages, including Mapudungun (also known as Mapuche), Quechua, Aymara, and Guarani.

[19] Italian (mostly its Northern dialects, such as Venetian), is spoken in rural communities across Argentina, Southern Brazil, and São Paulo where immigrants had settled.

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, 200 km (120 mi) away.

[27][28][29] Italians started to emigrate to the Southern Cone as early as the second half of the 17th century,[30] and it became a mass phenomenon between 1880 and 1920 when Italy was facing social and economic disturbances.

[60] Similar to the rest of Latin America, the genetic ancestry of the population of the Southern Cone reflects the history of the continent: the Iberian colonizers were mostly men who arrived without women.

Chile's, Argentina's, and Uruguay's HDIs — (0.860), (0.849) and (0.830) — are the highest in Latin America, similar to European countries like Croatia, Portugal, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania.

From an economic point of view, the Southern Cone countries has been praised for being the most Libertarian and pro Free market in Latin America that gave them the profile of "emerging economies".

Köppen Climate Zone Classification map of Southern Cone.
Planisphere of moderate latitudes in which the equivalent location of most of the Southern Cone can be observed as if it was in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest latitudes of the Southern Cone overlap among others with Southeast Alaska in North America, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Northern Germany , Poland and Belarus in Europe, and the Altai Mountains and Lake Baikal , Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in Asia.
Mate , as shown in the picture, is a typical beverage from the Southern Cone.
A history of Catholicism has left landmarks like the Churches of Chiloé (pictured) in the Southern Cone
Population density of the Southern Cone by first-level national administrative divisions. Population/km 2
View of the Southern Cone at night, where there are population densities in the accumulation of light from cities.
Major agglomerations of the Southern Cone
Ethnic map of Argentina and Uruguay.
HDI map of the Southern Cone, including Paraguay, southern Brazil and the State of Sao Paulo.