South America is a continent forming the southern part of the Americas, with the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Antarctic in the south and Caribbean Sea to the north. South America has a land area of approximately 17.84 million sq. km, or nearly 3.5% of the Earth’s surface. The border to North America is the border between Colombia and Panama, but sometimes the border is expected to be the Panama Canal. Central America (ie, from Mexico in the north to Panama in the south) are therefore included in North America. As regards to Latin America the preferred border is between Mexico and the United States, where the term Latin America is more culturally and linguistically based.