The Neglected Continent

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 26, 1908

The Neglected Continent

So South America is called in our missionary literature. The current of missionary interest has seemed to run toward the Orient; and, until recent years, little has been done for our sister continent to the south.

Almost unnoticed by the general public in North America, great changes have been taking place in South America. Who, for instance, stops to think that of the five large cities of the western hemisphere, two are in South America? The order by population is as follows: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro.

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is a city claiming a population numbering nearly a million and a quarter. The city has every modern improvement, its avenues and boulevards reminding one of Paris. Considering that the whole state of Argentina has less than five million population, it can be seen that the country itself must be rich in resources in order to maintain such an entry port as Buenos Aires.

Rio de Janeiro, the metropolis of Brazil, has passed the million mark in population. Brazil itself has an area about the same as the United States, with a population of twenty-two million. A thousand miles up the River Amazon is the city of Manaos, with electric lights, miles of electric railway, and a thriving trade.

Every shipping line running from Europe to South America carries a large list of emigrants seeking homes in Brazil, in the valley of the River Plate, and in Chile. South America is developing rapidly; and now is the time to carry the light of the gospel through these lands where multitudes are shaking off the shackles of Romanism.