South America is a continent located in the Americas, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. South America has twelve sovereign states and two non-sovereign states, and it has a population of 371,090,000 people, with a vast majority speaking Spanish; Brazil speaks Portuguese, Guyana speaks English, Suriname speaks Dutch, and French Guiana speaks French - the rest speak Spanish due to the Spanish Empire's conquest of South America in the 1500s.
The topic has often been debated if South America belongs to Western civilization. It is inhabited by a mixed population, descended from White European settlers as well as Native Americans and Black Africans. The proportions vary by country, so Argentina is certainly more Western than Guatemala or Peru. The biggest religion is Roman Catholicism, but indigenous pagan deities are also worshipped. Despite the domination of Spanish language, there always have been a strong connection to Native cultures in South American literature.