南美洲(nán měi zhōu) - South America in Mandarin

南美洲 (Nánměizhōu) is South America: 南 (nán), "south", plus 美 (měi), the transliteration syllable for "America", plus 洲 (zhōu), "continent". It mirrors 北美洲 (Běiměizhōu), North America, exactly, with only the direction character swapped.

As with its northern counterpart, everyday speech often drops 洲 (zhōu) and just says 南美 (Nánměi). You will see both the full and short forms in travel writing, news, and geography textbooks without any difference in meaning.

A useful memory hook: 南 (nán) also opens 南方 (nánfāng), "the south (of a country)", and 南部 (nánbù), "southern part", so once you have 南 (nán) fixed as "south" the continent name follows automatically from the pattern already learned with 北美洲 (Běiměizhōu).