Amazon River, South America: Map, Facts, Location, History South America Information about Amazon River PDF The Amazon River – Largest River in the World (by the volume of water) The Amazon River, located in South America, is the second longest river in the world. It flows through Guyana , Ecuador , Venezuela , Bolivia , Brazil , Colombia , and Peru traversing a distance of about 4,000 miles or about 6,400 kilometers. While for the major part, the river runs through dense rain forests, some populous and large cities have sprung up on its banks. The largest among these cities is Manaus in Brazil with a population of over 1.7 million people. The Central Amazon Conservation Complex along the Amazon Basin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Amazon rainfores t is one of the most bio diverse places on earth and is home to a number of freshwater species including over 3,000 different fish species. The world’s largest variety of electric fish, the Amazonian manatee, the black caiman, and Amazonian river dolphins live in the Amazon River. Going by drainage, the Amazon River is the largest in the world.

It is so large that the river and its tributaries contain 20% of the planet’s freshwater supply. The river rises to about 30 feet during the monsoons, its rich alluvium settles in the surrounding floodplain soils, while the water fills up the lakes and lagoons through its course. The river drains over 7,381,000 cubic foot of water into the Atlantic Ocean each second. During the monsoons, the width of the Amazon River can reach over 30 miles (50 kilometers). With over 1,100 tributaries, it comes as little wonder that the Amazon is called The River Sea. The Amazon rainforest are known for the various medicinal herbs and minerals available here. While the uses of many of these are known to the indigenous tribes, researchers from across the world are discovering more and more beneficial substances here. Location Map of Amazon River Amazon River Facts The Amazon river originates from the Andes Mountains The mouth of the river is located in the Atlantic Ocean Its length is 6,400 km (4,000 miles) approximately It is the second longest river in the world Where is the Amazon River ?

The river, located in the South American continent, traverses the following countries : Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Best time to visit Amazon River The Amazon basin is best avoided through the monsoon months between January and June due to the high humidity and unpredictability of tour operations. July through December, the dry season, is the best to visit the Amazon valley. More on Amazon River Cities Along the Amazon River : Iquitos (Peru); Leticia (Colombia); Manaus (Brazil), Santarém (Brazil), Belém do Pará (Brazil), Macapa (Brazil). FINARAMA: Pterophyllum Angelfish | Amazon River Drainage System Amazon River Drainage System Amazon River Drainage System First of all the cross section visualizes the main headstream of the Amazon river system. The Amazon rushes through waterfalls and gorges high in the Andes mountains before entering the enormous tropical Amazon drainage basin. Although the river originates in the Andes Mountains (only about 100 miles east of the Pacific Ocean) the river actually flows for nearly 4000 miles to reach the Atlantic Ocean on Brazilï¿½s northeast coast.

The largest portion of the basin are found in Brazil, but also includes parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia. This drainage basin is the greatest system covering a surface of 2.700.000 km2. The basin lies between the Guiana Massif to the north and the lower Brazilian Massif to the south cover whole Europe it is twice as large as any other river drainage basin in the world. The river is also the largest in terms of the quantity of and volume of water. With 6,275 kms of longitude it is the second longest river of the world, after the Nile. The Amazon discharges between 34 and 121 million liters of water per second, and it deposits daily about three million tons of silts in the delta. The annual contribution of the river totals one fifth of all the fresh water that flows into all the oceans of the world, and it alters the salinity and the color of the Atlantic ocean up to a distance of about 186.4 miles (300 Kms.) from the delta. So, why is Amazon so big? - The first reason has to do with it's location - right at the equator.

Around the "belt line" of the earth lies a warm, tropical zone where over 400 inches of rain fall every year. That averages out to more than an inch of rain, everyday! A lot of water falls onto the land surrounding the river, what is called the "Amazon River drainage basin". Herein the second reason can be found. The Amazon drains the entire Northern half of the South American continent, including all the torrential tropical rains that deluge the rainforests, it carries an enormous amount of water. A good way to understand what a drainage basin is to think of the whole northern half of the continent of South America as a shallow dish, or saucer. Whenever rain falls and lands anywhere in the river basin it all runs into the lowest place in the pan, which happens to be the Amazon River. The sheer volume of rain in the Amazon jungle, as well as the slope of the surrounding land, combine to create the enormous river known as the Amazon. The mouth of the Amazon River, where it meets the sea, is so wide and deep that ocean-going ships have navigated its waters and traveled far inland.

Amazon rainforest The drainage basin harbors the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon rainforest, lying in the tropical region of northern South America. The Amazon is thought to be second only to the human brain in complexity. The complexity is formed bys a massive and varied ecosystem, an integrate web of interaction between plants and animals that depend on each other for survival. The Rainforest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. The Amazon is one of the largest remaining contiguous tracts of nature on earth. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. Perhaps the most important function of all however, is that this vast wilderness has the power to regulate the global climate. Perhaps the most important function of all however, is that this vast wilderness has the power to regulate the global climate.

Twenty-five percent of the earths remaining primary forest is within the confines of the Amazon basin and a typical square mile may contain 750 species of trees, 125 different mammals, 400 types of birds, 100 distinct reptiles, and 16 varieties of amphibians. The rivers support over 2000 species of know fish species, and new species found daily. Insects make up the largest proportion of Amazonian organisms. Not only do they provide food for lower order insectivores, they serve vital functions in the whole scheme of Amazonian ecology. Fascinating as all this is, what should truly amaze is the value the Amazon rainforest offers to man. It has given many of the foods we take for granted. Medicines that prevent the scourge of disease and death. And materials like rubber that are of sufficient commercial value. Geology The Amazon basin is one of the worldï¿½s largest subsidence troughs, spanning some 6 million km2. For nearly 500 million years, the Amazon basin has been accumulating immense quantities of sediment.

Within the basin, two distinct groups of floodplain deposits are visible: the terra firme of Pliocene and Pleistocene age (10.000-5.300.000 years old), which lies above the modern floodplain; and the Holocene alluvial deposits (< 10.000 years old). The floodplain stretches from 12-30 miles in diameter on average, and is bounded to the north and south by low cliffs 20 to 60 feet in height. Sedimentary system Tectonics The Amazon is essentially a giant river valley bordered to the north and south by the Guiana and Brazilian shields respectively, which comprise hard Precambrian rock. The total area of the Amazon Basin is 7.5 x 106 km (795 km2) of which about 80% is rain forest. During the Paleozoic the Basin was a huge marine inlet into which many tributaries flowed. Until the Andes began to form at the end of the Miocene this inlet opened into the Pacific ocean and thus some elements of the Amazonian fauna are related to marine fish from the Pacific rather than Atlantic ocean.

During the Quaternary water levels within the Amazon basin changed with the sea level. When the sea level was high, huge lakes formed in the valley into which large amounts of sediment formed. During periods of low sea water level the rivers cut through the sediments forming river valleys. The modern sediments of the Amazon valley were formed during this period. These sedimentary deposits are up to 300 m thick and are called the Barreiras formation. Because these sediments have been heavily leached they hold low levels of nutrients and easily soluble cations such as calcium, and thus water flowing from the sedimentary deposits in the basin always has a low conductivity. Geography in Social Studies-South America South America The Amazon River Basin The Amazon region covers 2,700,000 square miles (7,000,000 sq km). This area is known as the Amazon River basin. A basin is all the land drained by a river and its tributaries. Tributaries are the rivers and streams that flow into the big river. The Amazon basin takes up nearly half of Brazil . It also covers part of other countries. The basin is almost as flat as a table top.

It is so flat that rain water and water from the highlands are caught here. This water collects and spreads, especially during rainy periods. This flooding creates large swamplands. The Amazon basin is flooded most of the year. For this reason some people call it a "river land." The Amazon River The Amazon River is the water way that drains the Amazon basin. This river is the second longest in the world. It flows through northern Brazil. With its tributaries it carries more water than any other river. The size of the Amazon River is important. The river is so large that ocean ships can travel 2,300 miles (3,600 km) inland. During the days when rubber was important, ships even sailed as far as Peru. Peru is a country 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. Parts of the Amazon are so wide that a person on a boat in the center cannot see either river bank. In places, the Amazon is more than 7 miles (11km) wide. The Amazon Rain Forest The Amazon rain forest is the largest one in the world. There is no summer or winter in the rain forest.

There is only a rainy season and a dry season. Even during the dry season it rains every few days. Some places get more than 100 inches (354 cm) of rain in a year. Some scientists call the Amazon rain forest the "lungs of the earth" because of its rich plant life. You may know that plants give off oxygen. The plants of the Amazon rain forest give off more than one-third of the earth's oxygen. People who have studies this jungle wory about cutting down large numbers of its trees. They think doing this might destroy an important part of the world's oxygen supply. Select a country from the list Amazon Facts THE AMAZON RIVER The Amazon River in South America is the second longest river in the world after the Nile river in Africa. At over 4,080 miles long, this mighty river runs from the Andes Mountains in Peru through Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. It contains more water than any other river in the world. The Amazon is so massive it actually contains more water than the Mississippi, the Nile and the Yangtze combined.

Think about how quick one second is...now consider this....in one second the Amazon pours almost 60 million gallons, or 620,000 cubic yards of water, into the Atlantic Ocean. This massive influx of fresh water actually dilutes the ocean's salinity, or saltiness, for up to 100 miles offshore. The water flowing out of the Amazon creates a brackish water system of a combination of both fresh and salt water for literally hundreds of square miles! To put this massive amount of water into perspective keep in mind that one days worth of water flowing out of the Amazon is the equivalent of 12 years worth of water usage by the city of New York, that is every faucet, every shower, every toilet and all other combined sources of fresh water consumed by millions of people for 12 years! It flows out of the Amazon every day.... Put another way, the average back yard swimming pool is about 30,000 gallons, the amazing Amazon River dumps enough water into the Atlantic Ocean every second to fill 2,000 swimming pools! EVERY SECOND! This river system is one of the world's most important river systems.

The Amazon River accounts for up to 1/5 of the earth's fresh water. On an annual basis the Amazon dumps literally millions of tons of particulate matter into the ocean. The solid particles contain extremely important organic matter. The Amazon is the widest river in the world. Inland from the mouth of the river there are portions of this giant river that are almost 5 miles wide. This impressive width expands to almost 15 miles during the flooded season. The overall delta region where the river empties into the Atlantic is 150 miles wide. It is interesting that it is widening by as much as 6 feet per year due to waves from ships breaking down the banks. The Amazon got its name from the Spanish explorers. Female warriors called "Icamiabas", meaning "women without husbands" attacked Francisco Orellana. Orellana named the river "Rio Amazonas" after these women whom he compared to the Amazons of ancient Greek mythology. The Amazon River basin is the home of so many animals- especially "extreme" creatures, like catfish which, in the U.S., grow up to 40 lbs., but in Brazil have been measured up to 200 lbs.

There is also the anaconda , the heaviest snake in the world, and the piranha, one of the most ferocious fish in the world. The Amazon River is home to over 2,000 different species of fish, this incredible diversity of fish species is found virtually no where else on earth. The Wealth of the Rainforests The Amazonian Rainforest covers slightly more than one billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin. One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants.

At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, turmeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews. At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rainforest use over 2,000. Rainforest plants are rich in secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids. Biochemists believe alkaloids protect plants from disease and insect attacks. Many alkaloids from higher plants have proven to be of medicinal value and benefit. Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest. Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest Vincristine, extracted from the rainforest plant, Periwinkle, is one of the world's most powerful anticancer drugs. It has dramatically increased the survival rate for acute childhood leukemia since its discovery. In 1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers involved in research programs to discover new drugs or cures from plants. Today, over 100 pharmaceutical companies and several branches of the US government, including giants like Merck and The National Cancer Institute, are engaged in plant research projects for possible drugs and cures for viruses, infections, cancer and even AIDS. The Last Frontier on Earth If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. The Amazon Rainforest, the world's greatest remaining natural resource, is the most powerful and bio-actively diverse natural phenomenon on the planet.

It has as been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. It is estimated that over twenty percent of earth's oxygen is produced in this area. As we actively deforest the Amazon and other tropical forests, we are literally "turning off" a giant oxygen producing machine each time we cut down a tree. The Amazon rainforest covers over 1.2 billion acres representing two-fifths of the enormous South American continent and is found in nine South American countries: Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and the three Guyana's. With 2.5 million square miles of rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest represents 54 percent of the total rainforests left on the planet. The life force of the Amazon Rainforest is the mighty Amazon River. It starts as a trickle high in the snow-capped Andes mountains and flows over 4,000 miles across the South American continent until it enters the Atlantic ocean at Belem, Brazil where it is 200 to 300 miles across, depending on the season. Even 1,000 miles inland, it is still 7 miles in width.

The river is so deep that ocean liners can travel 2,300 miles inland, up its length. The Amazon River flows through the center of the rainforest and is fed by 1,100 tributaries, seventeen of which are over 1,000 miles long. The Amazon is by far the largest river system in the world and over two-thirds of all the fresh water found on earth is in the Amazon basin's rivers, streams and tributaries. With so much water its not unusual that that the main mode of transportation throughout the area is by boat. The smallest and most common boats used today are still made out of hollowed tree trunks, whether they are powered by outboard motors or more often by man-powered paddles. Almost 14,000 miles of Amazon waterway are navigable and several million miles through swamps and forests are penetrable by canoe. The enormous Amazon River carries massive amounts of silt from run-off from the rainforest floor. Massive amounts of silt deposited at the mouth of the Amazon river has created the largest river island in the world, Marajo Island, which is roughly the size of Switzerland.

With this massive fresh water system, it not unusual that the life beneath the water is as abundant and diverse as the surrounding rainforest's plant and animal species. Over 2,000 species of fish have been identified in the Amazon Basin - more species than the entire Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon Basin was formed in the Paleozoic period, somewhere between 500 and 200 million years ago. The extreme age of the region in geologic terms has much to do with the relative infertility of the rainforest soil and the richness and unique diversity of the plant and animal life. There are more fertile areas in the Amazon River's flood plain, where the river deposits richer soil brought from the Andes, which only formed 20 million years ago. The rich diversity of plant species in the Amazon Rainforest is the highest on earth. Experts show that one hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants and it is estimated that one hectare of Amazon rainforest contains about 900 tons of living plants. Altogether it contains the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world.

The Andean mountain range and the Amazon jungle are home to more than half of the world's species of flora and fauna and one in five of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon.. To date, some 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region and many more have yet been cataloged or even discovered. Once a vast sea of tropical forest, the Amazon rainforest today is scarred by roads, farms, ranches and dams. Brazil is gifted with a full third of the world's remaining rainforests and unfortunately, it is also one of the world's great rainforest destroyers, burning or felling over 2.7 million acres each year. Today, more than 20 percent of rainforest in the Amazon has been razed and is gone forever. This ocean of green nearly as large as Australia, is the last great rainforest in the known universe and it is being decimated like the others before it. Why?

Like other rainforests already lost forever, the land is being cleared for logging timber, large scale cattle ranching, mining operations, government road building and hydroelectric schemes, military operations, and the subsistence agriculture of peasants and landless settlers. Sadder still, in many places the rainforests are burnt simply to provide charcoal to power industrial plants in the area. World's Longest Rivers | Amazon, Nile & Mississippi Rivers Credit: NASA Intro The 10 longest rivers in the world, most in Asia, each bring life-giving water to millions of people, support their own unique ecosystems and flow across a variety of landscapes. While determining a river's length may seem simple, it's not: Many rivers join together in river systems and it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint where one individual river begins. And while the accepted method of measurement of a river's size is by length, although the magnitude of a river can also be measured by its volume. Below are the world's longest rivers, measured according to the length of the longest continuous river channel in a given river system.

2 of 12 Lena 2,734 miles (4,400 kilometers) The Lena River's source starts at a Siberian mountain lake west of Lake Baikal, from where it flows north across Russia to enter the Arctic Ocean. When the river is frozen for seven months of the year, ice crusts can grow more than 3 feet (1 meter) thick. Located on the river's bank is the city of Yakutsk, the world's second largest producer and exporter of diamonds. The Lena River's basin is a rich source of mineral deposits, including coal, gold and other precious metals. Fossils have also been dug up from the Lena's delta, including woolly mammoth skulls and tusks , according to Discover Magazine. 3 of 12 Amur 2,763 miles (4,444 kilometers) Also known as the Heilong Jiang, this river begins in the Mongolian region of China as the Hailar River, becomes the Argun River and then merges with the Shilka River to form the Amur River.

Heilong Jiang, which translates to "Black Dragon River," was named by the Qing Dynasty in China, which reigned 1644-1911 . Amur is the river's Russian name. The river flows along the Russian-Chinese border to Siberia, then northeast across Russian territory to empty into the Tatar Strait. The region around the Amur is home to several endangered species , including the Amur leopard, of which only between 25 and 34 individuals remain, according to the International Society for Endangered Cats. 4 of 12 Congo 2,900 miles (4,700 kilometers) Also known as the Zaïre River, the Congo River is the largest river in the western part of Central Africa. Rising in Zambia as the Chambeshi River and flowing through the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Atlantic Ocean, the Congo River has flow volumes that are ten times greater than that of Niagara Falls, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). With parts of its channel reaching depths of 755 feet (230 meters), the Congo River is the deepest river in the world and is home to over 700 species of fish.

Scientists continue to find previously unknown species of fish in the river, including frightening, spike-toothed " monster fish " such as the Goliath Tiger Fish. 5 of 12 Ob 3,362 miles (5,410 kilometers) Starting out in the Altai Mountains of central Asia and flowing across western Siberia, the Ob river dumps into the Kara Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The river runs through various climates along its route to the sea, from the swampy marshlands of Narym, Russia to the Arctic's icy tundra. While the Ob remains frozen for six months of the year, it is used for irrigation and hydroelectric energy during the other half of the year, as well as a major transportation route for Siberia. Though it is also used for drinking water, Siberian parts of the river are highly contaminated with radioactive pollutants as a result of former Soviet nuclear programs , according to the Natural Resource Defense Council.

6 of 12 Yellow 3,395 miles (5,464 kilometers) Flowing east from the Plateau of Tibet to the Yellow Sea, the Yellow River, also known as Huang He, gets its name from the lemon-hued silt it picks up in the Shaanxi Loess Plateau. The second longest river in China, the river is often referred to as "the Mother River of China" and "the cradle of Chinese civilization" because its basin is considered to be the birthplace of prosperous northern Chinese civilizations. However, the river has also earned the title of "China's Sorrow" due to its frequent devastating floods , which often result from elevated river beds in its lower course. The river accounts for some of the deadliest disasters in human history, including a 1931 flood that killed an estimated 1 million people, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 7 of 12 Yenisei-Angara 2,540 miles (4,090 kilometers) The greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, the Yenisei originates at the border of south-central Russia and Mongolia.

The river's mid-section is controlled by a series of massive hydroelectric dams. Frozen during the winter months, the river causes extensive flooding when ice begins to thaw in the springtime because the upper portion of Yenisei melts before the lower river. The name Yenisei is derived from the word Anas, which means "Mother River," a title given to the river by an ancient Turkic settlement in Altai. Partially built by Soviet criminal labor camps, the river contains radiation pollution as a result of decades of unchecked industrial contamination, according to the Institute of Biophysics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. 8 of 12 Credit: Goddard Conceptual Imaging Lab Mississippi-Missouri-Red Rock 3,902 miles (6,275 kilometers) The largest river in North America, the Mississippi river rises at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flows south, meeting its major tributaries, the Missouri and the Ohio rivers, on its way to southeast Louisiana, where it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River got its name from the Native American Chippewa tribe's words "mici zibi," meaning "great river," while the Missouri River was named after the Missouri Indian tribe and means "town of the large canoes." Hernando de Soto, a conquistador, or Spanish explorer, was the first European to discover the river in 1541 during an expedition in search of gold. De Soto, who attempted to convince the Native American tribes living by the river that he was an immortal sun god, died of a fever on the western banks of the Mississippi in 1542, according to "Hernando De Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas," (University of Oklahoma Press, 1997). 9 of 12 Yangtze 3,917 miles (6,300 kilometers) Also known as the Chang Jiang river, the Yangtze rises in west-central China, flowing across south-central and east-central China until it reaches the East China Sea near Shanghai. The longest river in China and Asia, the Yangtze acts as a dividing line between North and South China.

The river has a rich mythological history, which includes the tale of the baiji, or freshwater river dolphins, which are said to have descended from a Chinese princess who drowned herself in the Tung Ting Lake portion of the Yangtze river, according to "Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World" (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2001). The Yangtze River dolphins are now thought to be extinct, due to harmful fishing practices. 10 of 12 Amazon 3,980 miles (6,400 kilometers) The world's largest river by volume, the Amazon starts in Peru and flows through Brazil, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon also boasts the world's largest river drainage basin, which includes portions of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Located throughout the basin is the extraordinary Amazon rainforest, home to an astounding variety of birds, mammals, and other wildlife, including 4,000 species of butterflies. Parts of the river exceed 120 miles (190 kilometers) in width during the wet season, and to date, no bridge spans the Amazon along its entire length, according to the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER).

The river's present bed is estimated to be about 11 million years old . The river got its name from European conquistador Francisco de Orellana, after he was reportedly attacked by women warriors during his exploration of the river from 154142. Orellana likened the women to the brave female warriors of Ancient Greek mythology, the Amazons, naming the river in their honor. 11 of 12 Nile 4,135 miles (6,650 kilometers) Considered to be the longest river in the world , the Nile flows northward through the tropical climate of eastern Africa and into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile's energy is harnessed by the Aswan High Dam, which was completed in 1970 and provides hydroelectricity and controls summer flooding. Originally called Iteru by the Egyptians and represented by hieroglyphics, the Nile's name is derived from the Greek word Neilos, which means "river valley." Since the Stone Age, human civilizations have prospered along the banks of the Nile.

In fact, the Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt "the gift of the Nile," according to "The World of Herodotus" (Little Brown and Company, 1962). The Nile runs through Egypt, as well as nine east and North African nations Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 300 million people depend on the Nile for their water supply and the irrigation of seasonal crops, according to the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin. 12 of 12 Unique Facts About South & Central America: : The Amazon River Unique Facts- South America The Amazon River The Amazon River (occasionally River Amazon; Spanish: Río Amazonas, Portuguese: Rio Amazonas) of South America is one of the longest two rivers on Earth, the Nile River in Africa being the other. The Amazon has by far the greatest total flow of any river, carrying more than the Mississippi, Nile, and Yangtze rivers combined. It also has the largest drainage area of any river system. It may be correctly stated that the Nile is the longest river, while the Amazon is the strongest.

The quantity of fresh water released to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: 184,000 m³ per second (6.5 million ft³/s) in the rainy season. Indeed, the Amazon is responsible for a fifth of the total volume of fresh water entering the oceans worldwide. It is said that offshore of the mouth of the Amazon potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline, and the salinity of the ocean is notably lower a hundred miles out to sea. The main river (which is usually between one and six miles wide) is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus. Smaller ocean vessels of 3,000 tons and 5.5 m (18 ft) draft can reach as far as Iquitos, 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach 780 km (486 mi) higher as far as Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point.

Mouth of the Amazon seen from space, looking south.(Photo courtesy of NASA) The Amazon drains an area of some 6,915,000km² (2,722,000 mile²), or some 40 percent of South America. It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-Andean plateau, just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean; and, after a course of about 7,200 km (4,800 mi) through the interior of Peru and across Brazil, it enters the Atlantic Ocean at the equator. The ultimate source of the Amazon has only recently been firmly established as a stream on a 5,597 metre (18,363 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km (100 miles) N.N.E. of Lima. The mountain was first suggested as the source in 1971 but this was not confirmed until 2001. The stream from Nevado Mismi flows into Lake Lauricocha and then the Apurímac River.

The Apurímac is a tributary of the Ucayali, which joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper. Below its confluence with the Huallaga, the river leaves Andean terrain and is instead surrounded by flood plain. From this point to the Ucayali, some 2,400 km (1,500 mi), the forested banks are just out of water, and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood-line. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon Rainforest. Seasonal rains give rise to extensive floods along the course of the Amazon and its tributaries. The average depth of the river in the height of the rainy season is 40 m (120 ft) and the average width can be nearly twenty-five miles. It starts to rise in November, and increases in volume until June, then falls until the end of October. The rise of the Negro branch is not synchronous; the rainy season does not commence in its valley until February or March. By June it is full, and then it begins to fall with the Amazon. The Madeira rises and falls two months earlier than the Amazon.

Manaus, the largest city on the Amazon, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the muddy Amazon River and the dark Negro River. The abundance of water in the Amazon basin is due to the fact that much of this lies in the region below the Intertropical convergence zone, where rainfall is at a maximum. Also, the basin lies in the Trade Wind zone, where moisture from the Atlantic is pushed westwards, and eventually forced to rise over the Andes, the second tallest mountain range on Earth, where the moist air cools and precipitates water. This combination creates more rainfall over a large river basin than anywhere else on the planet. In the rainy season, the Amazon inundates the country throughout its course to the extent of several hundred thousand square miles, covering the flood-plain, called vargem. The flood-levels are, in some places, from 12 to 15 m (40 to 50 ft) higher than levels during the dry season.

During the flood, the level at Iquitos is 6 m (20 ft); at Teffe, it is 15 m (45 ft); near Obidos, 11 m (35 ft); and at Para, 4 m (12 ft), above the low-water extreme seen during the dry season. Before the conquest of South America, the Río de las Amazonas had no general name; instead, indigenous peoples had names for the sections of the river they occupied, such as Paranaguazu, Guyerma, Solimões and others. In the year 1500, Vicente Yañez Pinzon, in command of a Spanish expedition, became the first European to explore the river, exploring its mouth when he discovered that the ocean off the shore was fresh water. Pinzon called the river the Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce, which soon became abbreviated to Mar Dulce, and for some years, after 1502, it was known as the Rio Grande. Pinzon's companions called the river El Río Marañón. The word Marañón is thought by some to be of indigenous origin.

This idea was first stated in a letter from Peter Martyr to Lope Hurtado de Mendoza in 1513. However, the word may also be derived from the Spanish word "maraña" — meaning a tangle, a snarl, which well represents the bewildering difficulties which the earlier explorers met in navigating not only the entrance to the Amazon, but the whole island-bordered, river-cut and indented coast of what is now the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The name Amazon arises from a battle which Francisco de Orellana had with a tribe of Tapuyas where the women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was the custom among the entire tribe. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from the ancient Amazons of Asia and Africa described by Herodotus and Diodorus. Four centuries after the discovery of the Amazon river, the total cultivated area in its basin was probably less than 25 square miles (65 km²), excluding the limited and rudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters. This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century.

Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation's resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was President Getúlio Vargas, the demand for rubber from the Allied forces in World War II providing funding for the drive. Amazon River Interior (photo courtesy NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics) The construction of the new capital Brasilia in the interior in 1960 also contributed to the opening up of the Amazon basin. A large scale colonization program saw families from north-eastern Brazil relocated to the forests, encouraged by promises of cheap land. Many settlements grew along the road from Brasilia to Belem, but rainforest soil proved difficult to cultivate. Still, long-term development plans continued. Roads were cut through the forests, and in 1970, the work on Trans-Amazon highway network began. The network's three pioneering highways were completed within ten years, connecting all the major cities of the Brazilian Amazon interior.

Cattle farming became a major impetus in deforestation, with military governments in the 1960s and 1970s heavily subsidising the creation of large ranches. By the 1980s the rate of destruction of the rainforest was dizzying, and it is estimated that over a fifth of the total area of the rainforest has now been clearcut. The preservation of the remaining forest is becoming an ever more prominent concern. The Amazon River | WWF Floodplain forests Amazon rivers, major pathways for wildlife, people and water Sometimes they rush, sometimes they just creep along, and in some places they may almost die out. At other times of the year, they will suddenly overflow with water. Rivers are unpredictable, and nowhere is this truer than in the Amazon River Basin, which is subject to radical seasonal changes throughout the year. Amazon rivers provide a range of habitats, including swamps, marshes and streams, each hosting different types of wildlife. 1 These waterways are subject to major annual flood cycles, affecting the ecology and the landscape of the region.

Freshwater Connectivity Leandro Castello speech about “State of the Amazon: Freshwater Connectivity and Ecosystem Health"report at World Water Forum 2015. The Amazon River Coming a close second after the Nile as the world’s longest river, the Amazon River sets the record in terms of the sheer volume of water that it carries – a mind-boggling average discharge of 219,000 m3/sec of water. 2 It is estimated that approximately one-sixth of all fresh water that drains into the world's oceans goes through the 320-km-wide delt of the Amazon, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. As the seasons change, so does the river. During the dry season, the width of the Amazon River can be 4 km to 5 km in places – and in the wet season, this can increase to 50 km! At the height of the wet season, the current can reach a speed of 7 km/hr. Major roles of the Amazon River As the drainage system of the Amazon Basin, the Amazon River and its approximately 1,100 tributaries play major roles in the ecology of the basin.

Before roads and airstrips started appearing in the basin, these waterways were the major access routes to the interior areas of Brazil and the northern half of South America. For example, the only way you can get to Iquitos, Peru, which is right on the Amazon River, is to board a plane or a boat. There are no roads to get there. 3 Origins and course of the river The Amazon River has its source high in the Peruvian Andes, at an elevation of 5,598 m. There, at a mere 192 km from the Pacific Ocean where it once flowed into, the Amazon River begins as a small tributary called the Carhuasanta. As it heads east, it flows into and becomes the Hornillos, which merges into the Apurimac, a major tributary that eventually joins the Ene, the Tambo and then the Ucayali. 4 After an initial drop in elevation, the Amazon River steadies its descent towards the Atlantic Ocean at a rate of 1.5 cm for every kilometre over a distance of over 6,400 km.

In some places, the river reaches a width of 10 km, as far as 1,600 km upriver, and large ships can dock all the way up to Iquitos, Peru. 6 Sighting the river before the land The brown waters of the Amazon River can be seen as far as 100 km out to sea from the mainland, well before the continent is in sight. In the early days of colonization, this phenomenon would help ships sailing from Europe to South America ensure they were on good course before sighting the land. Amazon River and tributaries, forming the Amazon Basin [click to enlarge]. © WWF, U.S. Geological Survey, ICTA, TNC, University of Kassel News & Publications Ahoy - Mac's Web Log - The Top Ten Rivers of the World Ahoy - Mac's Web Log Naval, Maritime, Australian History and more Mackenzie J Gregory The Top Ten Rivers of the World Introduction. The only criterion for selection to this exclusive list is length in miles. The longest river gains first position, and so on in descending order. Number 1. The Nile. Length in miles 4145. Location Africa. Empties into the Mediterranean.

The world's longest river, flowing from South to North, and finally emptying into the Mediterranean. It has three major rivers contributing to it, the Blue Nile with its source in Ethiopia near Lake Tana, north of Khartoum, the White Nile and Blue Nile are joined by the Atbara, which also was born in the highlands of Ethiopia. A little north of Cairo, the Nile splits into two arms, the Rosetta Branch to the west, and the Damietta to the east. In 1971 the Aswan High Dam was opened, built to control the flow of the Nile, and Lake Nasser, some 312 miles long, a man made lake came into being as a result of this construction work. Salt water problems. Given this control of the Nile, when the river finally enters the Mediterranean, its strength of flow is no longer robust enough to prevent salt water from the Mediterranean entering into the Nile, and forcing its way back up the river. Thus, this ingress of salt destroys both the soil around the Delta, and the habitat of animals and birds. Map of the Nile River Sunset on the Nile River Number 2. The Amazon River. Length in miles 4,050.

Location Peru/brazil. Empties into the Atlantic. The Amazon is pipped by the Nile for the World's longest river title, but only just. However the Amazon carries the greatest volume of water of any river world wide, as it drains the northern half of the South American continent. This river's headwaters start high up in the Andes mountains, it is reported that 4.2 million cubic feet of water per second flow out into the ocean at the Amazon's mouth, and that is an amazing statistic! The basin formed by the Amazon is 9 times the size of the US state of Texas, and its water shed covers the largest tropical rain forest world wide. I was suprised to learn that not a single bridge spans this mighty river. Many species of unique animals, birds, fish, and plants grace the lands that the Amazon passes through on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. The Toucan with its amazing beak, is found no where else but close to this river, the boa constrictor flourishes in the damp rain forest ajoining the river, and the jaguar may be seen stretched out in tree branches as the river flows swiftly by.

Whilst in America they may boast of catfish up to 40 pounds in weight, a typical catfish of the Amazon may come in at 200 pounds. The mere mention of the Amazon brings to mind, size, exotic plants, dripping rain forest, adventure, mystery, and a sheer volume of rushing water probably unequalled anywhere else on our planet. Map of Amazon River The boa constrictor of the Amazon area The Toucan only found in the environs of the Amazon River Number 3. The Yangtze River. Length 3,915 miles. location China. Empties into the East China Sea. The third longest river in the world, and the longest in Asia, the Yangtze has its headwaters at 16,000 feet in the South West section of Qinghai, and moves south and then east through the three gorges. These are: Qutang, Wu and Xiling gorges. Three Gorges Dam project.

Some 20,000 labourers are working flat out to build the world's largest dam here, as broad as the Golden Gate Bridge and twice as high, scheduled for completion in 2009, at a total cost of US $ 7.2 Billion. It aims to produce 18,000 Mega watts of power. Deposit of Silt. The river drops a 170 million cubic meters of silt annually that assists a large plain in Jiangsu Province, where the major crop Rice, is the staple food of the Chinese. Population along the banks of the Yangtze River. Some 400 million Chinese inhabit the areas that surround the river as it winds across China making its exit to the East China Sea, just north of Shanghai. The Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Dam location A view of the Yangtze River Bridge across the Yangtze The Rainbow bridge at Wusan, situated athe end of Wu Gorge, the second of the three gorges on the Yangtze River Number 4. The Mississippi River. Length 3,760 miles. Country United States of America. Empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

The source of the Mississippi is found in the Minnesota Northwoods, and it flows down to the Gulf of Mexico. Indian name for Mississippi. The Ojibway Indians living on the banks of the Mississippi river called it "Messipi- Big River. We find up to 400 species of wild life calling this river home. and close to 40% of all North American duck, goose, swan, and wading birds rely on the river as their migration corridor. There are 241 species of fish that live in the Mississipi, and 12 million Americans live in the 125 Counties that border it. History of the River. This river reeks with history, when its waters were traversed by many river boats powered by both side and stern paddle wheels, and the song " Ole Man River" immortalises the timelessness of this great waterway. Mark Twain made it famous with his stories based upon the river, and its traffic. Mississippi River basin Number 5. The Irtysh River. Length 3,100 miles. Country Russia. Empties into the Ob River.

Sourced in the Mongolian Altai mountains, its course takes it North West through the 700 square mile lake of Zaysun to Kazakhstan until it meets up with the Ob river in Western Siberia. Steamers navigate this Russian river between April and November, and then it is frozen over. The river's name Irtysh means "earth mover", and prior to the Russians arriving in the late 16th. Century, its environs were occupied by both Chinese and Mongels. Along its banks before reaching Omsk are large power stations devouring vast quantities of the river's water to operate them. The river then moves through the Kazakhstan steppes. Satellite image of the Irtysh River in Russia Map showing the Irtysh River, and it flowing into the Ob Butterfly from the left floodlands of the Irtysh River near the city of Omsk. Photo by Oleg.Hosterin City Administration Building of Omsk, sits on Irtysh River Omsk Passenger River Terminal Number 6. The Amur River. Length 2,900 miles. Location Siberia. Empties into Tatar Strait. ( Pacific Ocean.

) This river is formed by the joining of the Argun and Shilka rivers flowing in the North East corner of Asia, rising in the mountains of NE China to finally exit to the Tatar Strait in the Pacific Ocean. For almost 1,100 miles it marks out a common boundary with China on its right bank, and Russia on its left bank. I sat wondering if sharing a major river between both China and Russia posed any problems, are there disputes over the fish in the Amur? of which there are some 108 different species. One of them is the Black Amur, a fish that may grow to 120 cm, and weigh in at 30 kilograms. There is not a single dam to be found over the total length of the Amur river, but does access to its water provide friction between the neighbours who share this bounty? Do China and Russia cojoin to preserve its assets? The area in, and close by this river, is home to 95% of the world's Oriental White Stork.

As the river wends its way across NE Asia through a variety of landscape, on its journey to to the sea, the valleys, drained by it and its branches, embrace some 715,000 square miles. Amur Leopard Cat. The unique Amur Leopard Cat is only found in the environs of the Amur River, the species in dire straits, only 50 of them thought to still be in existence today. Map showing the course of the Amur river A picturesque view of the Amur river Number 7. The Congo River. Length 2,718 miles. Location Congo, Africa. Empties into the Atlantic. The Congo river is second only to the Nile here in Africa, and it forms in the most southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the meeting of the Lualaba and Luvua rivers. It flows to the Stanley Falls just north of the equator, then loops to the North East before turning West, and finally alters course to the South to outlet into the Atlantic Ocean. The river drains some 1.6 million square miles of country, and when it exits into the Atlantic runs at the rate of 1.2 million cubic feet of water every second.

The river is a major highway in the area, carrying barges loaded with fuel, copper, wood, minerals, palm oil, and agricultural products. It is also Africa's greatest potential source of hydroelectric power, and the Inga Power project is the first to exploit this possibility. The Congo traverses a rain forest that is second only to that of the Amazon. Some 4,000 islands dot the river within its banks, over its long journey down to the Atlanic Ocean, some up to 10 miles long. The countries that the river passes through are: The Democratic Republic of Congo, The Peoples Republic of Congo, The Central African Republic, Zambia, Angola, Cameroon, and Tanzania. On hearing the name Congo River, it summons up in my mind, Africa, Stanley and Livingstone, the mighty Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the Dark Continent, and its history of Black Slavery. Map of Congo River Wooden canoes still in use for fishing on the Congo River Number 8. The Huang-Ho or Yellow River. Length 2,700 miles. Location China. Empties into the Gulf of Chihli. The Yellow River, is the northern most of the major rivers in China's Yellow River basin.

It is said to be the cradle of China's civilization, and covers three major regions, the upper, the middle, and the lower. Source. The Yellow River starts in the Bayankale Mountains which form the divide between this river in the North and the Yangtze to the South. The highest peak reaches up to 5,267 meters, and the river's source is a basin at the foot of these mountains, from here it drains two major lakes, Zaling and Eling, about 20 k's apart. The river flows eastwards, passing through a number of narrow gorges and then turns north. See the picture of Laxiwa Gorge. Hydro electric Projects. The upper reaches of the Yellow River provide electric power for the major industrial city of Lanzhou. It flows on through the Mongolian Plain and desert, to the middle reaches where its turns very muddy, as it drains the loess plateau, more and still more sediment is collected as it pushes through the gorge section between the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi. In its lower reaches, the river is confined by levies lining its banks to prevent flooding.

Every year 1.6 billion tons of sand are washed into the Yellow River, and this soil erosion causes great harm to all the people living within the reach of this great river. At its estuary, the river dumps a billion tons of sediment into Bohai Bay. The Yellow River pasing through Laxiwa Gorge The Bayankala Mountians. The source of the Yellow River is a basin at the foot of these mountains. Eling lake in winter, shimmering with ice Hydro power works in Liujiaxia Gorge to suppy power to the city of Lanzhou Terraces built over the Loess plateau The river flows through Shanxi province on its right, and Shaanxi province on its left Levee banks at Kaifeng. Built to overcome the flooding prone to the Yellow River An ancient waterwheel in an area vastly eroded and in the category of wastelands, caused by past flooding of the Yellow River Number 9. The Lena River. Length 2,645 miles. Location Russia. Empties into the Arctic.

The Lena River is born in the mountains west of Lake Baikal, in south eastern Siberia, and to its mouth on the Laptev Sea in the Arctic it drains some 961,000 square miles. In late spring ice will block the flow of water in the Lena at its mouth, causing flooding across the Siberian Plains. Over the winter months the river remains virtually frozen over. Home to wild life. The river is home for a few months of the year to ducks, geese, sandpipers, terns and gulls. Map of Lena River, Russia Polygon Ponds at the Delta of the Lena River. Photograph by Hartmut Jungius Flooding on the Lena river. The Delta covered in ice shows as red, the River would normally show as a black line, with land areas dull green or tan. Number 10. The Mackenzie River. Length 2,365 miles. Location Canada. Empties into the Arctic. My namesake, the Mackenzie River just sneaks into the world's top 10 longest rivers. It rises from the Great Slave Lake and flows north and west all the way to Inuvik and the Beaufort Sea.

This large river collects the flow from up to 100 mountain streams, and it drains 20% of all of Canada. It was named after the early explorer Alexander Mackenzie who, in 1788 believed he was following a river route to the west coast, but it led to the Arctic ocean. The large delta provides a habitat for Snow Geese and Tundra swans, and many types of water fowl. Map showing the Mackenzie River, flowing north to the Arctic Snowgeese found on the Mackenzie River The Tundra Swan found on the Mackenzie River

Question: The Amazon river, the second longest in the world, drains into the Atlantic Ocean through what country?
Answer: Brazil