Concept in Definition ABC

America like continent of a great extension it is divided in three great territories: North America, Central America and South America. From a geographical point of view, South America has a conical geometric shape in its southernmost part and, for this reason, we speak of the Southern Cone.

A geographical and political concept

If we start from the figure of the cone as a reference, at the vertex of the Southern Cone is Cape Horn and the two lines of the cone connect with the Ocean Pacific and Atlantic. The upper part of the figure corresponds to the geographical area of ​​Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The geographical extent of this broad territory it exceeds three million square kilometers, a surface much larger than the Republic of Argentina.

The geographic concept of the Southern Cone has diverse political and strategic implications: there is a Common Market of the Southern Cone or Mercosur that refers to several nations of South America, as well as a whole series of commercial links or entities with the name Cone South).

From a cultural and historical point of view, the territories of the Southern Cone have evident points in common: Spanish as language shared, a similar story marked by the process of decolonization in the 19th century and shared geostrategic interests.

The common space as an idea of ​​unification

The existence of the Southern Cone as a geographical reality with a dimension politics and cultural reminds us of other similar examples of alliances (the European Union, the axis of Mediterranean countries or the Pacific Alliance). However, sometimes geographic links are not decisive to create some kind of community (for For example, the British-inspired Commonwealth or Francophonie have their origin in the history of Great Britain and France).

The language of mathematics in physical geography

The use of mathematical terminology in description geographical area of ​​the planet is relatively frequent. In this sense, it is worth remembering several examples: the Circle Arctic Polar, the Equator Line, the Meridian from Greenwich or the Bermuda Triangle. These examples remind us that geometric shapes go beyond mathematical language, since they serve to mention any description in which there is a similarity between reality and mathematics. Something similar happens with other geographical names, which are based on other types of similarities (the horn of Africa or the name of the Italian peninsula such as the boot).

Photos: iStock - Harvepino / chrupka