No results — no cities meet the criteria for “Largest Cities in South America by Area” under a single, strict “city proper” definition.
The requirement for a uniform “city proper” or municipal boundary across all South American countries creates an empty list. Countries use different legal units (municipality, distrito, departamento) and draw borders in different ways. Some cities are small in city limits but huge as metro areas. Other municipalities include vast rural land that is not part of the urban core. A strict, comparable “city proper” filter therefore yields no consistent, trustworthy ranking.
Borders, data sources, and measurement methods vary across nations and years. National censuses, municipal registers, and mapping projects define area differently. Some Brazilian municipalities (for example, Altamira) cover tens of thousands of square kilometers because they include large forested or rural zones. By contrast, Buenos Aires city proper covers only a few hundred km² while Greater Buenos Aires is far larger. Those technical and administrative differences prevent a single, clean list of “largest cities by area” for all of South America.
Consider these close alternatives instead: lists of largest municipalities by area within a single country (e.g., Altamira and other large Brazilian municipalities), rankings of metropolitan areas or urban footprints (São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Lima), and lists by population. Explore “largest municipalities by country,” “largest metropolitan areas by land area,” or “largest cities by population” for useful, comparable results.
