The Amazon River

 The Amazon River

The Amazon River of South America is the greatest river in the world and also the largest river in the world with an average discharge greater than the next six largest rivers combined. The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, about 7,050,000 Square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi), accounts for approximately one-fifth of the worlds total river flow. The volume of water it carries to the sea (approximately 20% of all the freshwater discharge into the oceans), the area of land that drains into it, and its length and width. In its upper stretches the Amazon River is called Apurímac (in Peru) and Solimoes (in Brazil).

According to some sources the great Amazon River is the world's second longest river. The Nile of Africa is the longest river in the world. A current consensus within the geographic community holds that the Amazon is the second longest river, just slightly shorter than the Nile. The Amazon however, at any one point in time has the highest amount of water flowing down it. No other river even comes close. It may not be the longest, but it is the widest. Some studies have concluded that the Amazon is longer than the Nile River.

The Amazon River is also the main artery of the whole Amazon rainforest system and washes most of the villages and towns in the region. If you can make a trip up or down to the Amazon River you will have the opportunity to know the ecosystem in all its plenitude. No other Rivers in the world have so much of complicity or secrets in its heart.  

As it is a peculiar type of river so you can’t imagine the width of the river before you see this by your own eye. The width of the Amazon varies between 1.6 and 10 kilometres (0.99 and 6.2 mi) at dry season (actually at low stage), but expands during the wet season up to 48 kilometres (30 mi) or more. The Amazon River produces approximately 20 percent of all the water that the world's other rivers pour into the oceans on its own; it is a record to any other river. The Amazon River drains the entire Northern half of the South American continent (approx. 40% landmass), including all the torrential tropical rains that deluge the rainforests. The Amazon River carries a huge amount of water to the ocean. The mouth of the Amazon River, where it meets the sea, is very wide and deep. The Amazon River enters the Atlantic Ocean in a broad estuary about 240 kilometres (150 mi) wide. The mouth of the main stem is 80 kilometres (50 mi). The mouth of the Amazon River is just like a mini sea. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea. There is no any wonder that at no point is the Amazon crossed by bridges. We can’t say that because of its huge dimensions there is not a single bridge over the great Amazon River. Actually the fact is that for most of its length, the Amazon's width is well within the capability of modern engineers to bridge. However, the bulk of the river flows through tropical rainforest, where there are few roads and even fewer cities, so there is no need for crossings.

ORIGIN:

The Amazon River has originated from a glacial stream on a snowcapped 5,597 m (18,363 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km (99 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (430 mi) southeast of Lima. The Amazon River has a series of major river systems in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, some of which flow into the Maranon and Ucayali, others directly into the Amazon proper. Among with others rivers, the Amazon include the following rivers: Putumayo, Caqueta, Vaupes, Guainia, Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Huallaga.

The River Solimoes and its tributaries are called the "Upper Amazon". The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, whose water is drain into the Solimoes and its tributaries. The Amazon River proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru, it is part of the border between Colombia and Peru, and it has tributaries reaching into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

The Amazon Forest:

The Amazon is a mosaic of landscapes and ecosystems - from lowland tropical forests to flooded savannas dotted with palm trees and bamboo forests. There is a large no. of secrets in side the Amazon River and in forests; we still have to discover all of the secrets inside it. The Amazon is the world’s largest river basin and the source of one-fifth of all fresh water on Earth. The Amazon contains one-third of the planets remaining rain forests, sustaining millions of species; it is just like a living museum of the world. In the last decades, scientific research has established a clear link between the health of the Amazon and the integrity of the global environment, but still only a fraction of its biological richness has been revealed. Actually it is very hard to find out all the information’s inside it. Today, just like the other part of the world the rapid deforestation threatens the Amazons forests. If the deforestation of the Amazons forests is goes like this then the 25 percent of its original forests are projected to be destroyed by 2020 - a looming disaster not only for the regions plants and animals, but for the world. It is time to wake up world!