Central and South America The fourth largest continent, South America comprises 12.5 percent of the total landmass of the earth, and is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the northwest and north, the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast, east, and southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. In the northwest it is joined to North America by the narrow Isthmus of Panama, whilst Drake Passage separates the continent from Antarctica, no other continent, except for Antarctica, penetrates so far south. 364 million people make up the continent’s ethnically diverse population, reflecting four centuries of conquest and assimilation. Next