Where does the Amazon River start and finish?
The Amazon River begins in the Peruvian Andes and flows east until it ends at the Atlantic Ocean. It is the second longest river after the Nile and flows through the countries of Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana and Ecuador. The Amazon River is 4,000 miles long and is up to 6 miles wide in some areas.
What 9 countries does the Amazon River flow through?
What 9 countries does the Amazon river flow through? The Amazon and its tributaries flow through the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean 6, 437 kilometers (4,000 miles) from the Amazon’s headwaters high in the Andes mountains of Peru.
What is the weather like in the Amazon River?
The weather is dryer but more importantly, the lower water attracts some kinds of creatures that are not as commonly observed in the rainy season. The dry season is a time when the levels of most of the rivers in central Amazonia begin to drop, showing sandy beaches.
Where does the River Amazon empty into?
The Amazon River is located in the northern portion of South America, flowing from west to east. The river system originates in the Andes Mountains of Peru and travels through Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Brazil before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. Roughly two-thirds of the Amazon’s main stream is within Brazil.
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Where does the Amazon river begin?
Mantaro RiverAmazon River / SourceThe Mantaro River is a long river running through the central region of Peru. Its Quechua name means "great river". The word "Mantaro" may be a word originally from the Asháninka language, who live downstream along the Ene River. Wikipedia
What city does the Amazon river End?
BelémBelém is the major city and port at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean. The definition of where exactly the mouth of the Amazon is located, and how wide it is, is a matter of dispute, because of the area's peculiar geography.
In what country does the Amazon river End?
BrazilIt originates high in the Andes Mountains of Peru and flows eastwards on a meandering 4,000-mile (6,400 km) journey, roughly one-third of its length in Peru and two-thirds in Brazil, before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean on Brazil's northeastern coast.
In what way is the Amazon the largest river in the world?
The Amazon is considered the world's largest river by volume, but scientists have believed it is slightly shorter than Africa's Nile. The Brazilian scientists' 14-day expedition extended the Amazon's length by about 176 miles (284 kilometers), making it 65 miles (105 kilometers) longer than the Nile.
What's the deepest river in the world?
The CongoThe Congo is the deepest river in the world. Its headwaters are in the north-east of Zambia, between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi), 1760 metres above sea level; it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Can you swim in the Amazon river?
No, it is generally not a good idea to swim in the Amazon river due to strong currents more so than parasites. The thing you are talking about is probably the tiny little fish, the candiru, that can swim up a stream of urine.
What is the widest river in the world?
The Amazon RiverThe Amazon River is a heck of a big tributary. Besides being one of the LONGEST rivers in the world, it also happens to be the WIDEST.
What are 5 interesting facts about the Amazon river?
15 Facts About the Amazon River That'll Blow Your MindThe Amazon River originates in Peru. ... The Amazon River System meanders through nine South America countries. ... A Slovenian athlete once swam almost the entire length of the Amazon River, in 66 days. ... The Amazon River provides 20% of the ocean's fresh-water supply.More items...•
Do any bridges cross the Amazon river?
Despite being around 4,300 miles in length, the Amazon River surprisingly has no bridges. The Amazon River is the world's second-longest river and one of the planet's most significant waterways.
Is Amazon bigger than Nile?
The Amazon might also be the world's longest river—depending on whom you ask. Most scientists believe the South American river is at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long—still shorter than the Nile, which is widely held to be the world's longest river at about 4,132 miles (6,650 km).
Why are there no bridges over the Amazon river?
But the real reason for the lack of bridges is simply this: the Amazon Basin has very few roads for bridges to connect. The dense rainforest is sparsely populated outside of a few large cities, and the river itself is the main highway for those traveling through the region.
What's longer Nile or Amazon?
"We can confirm it is really longer than it used to be said, and longer than the Nile." Including the new headwaters and at least an additional 90 miles (150 kilometers) at the mouth makes the Amazon 4,256 miles (6,850 kilometers) long, at least 100 miles longer than the Nile.
What are 3 facts about the Amazon river?
15 Facts About the Amazon River That'll Blow Your MindThe Amazon River originates in Peru. ... The Amazon River System meanders through nine South America countries. ... A Slovenian athlete once swam almost the entire length of the Amazon River, in 66 days. ... The Amazon River provides 20% of the ocean's fresh-water supply.More items...•
Where does the Congo river start and end?
Atlantic OceanCongo River / MouthThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 km². It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. Wikipedia
What is the deepest part of the Amazon river?
328′Amazon River / Max depthThe deepest point in the Amazon River is 328 feet deep. This occurs in the lowermost section of the amazon where the depth of the water drops significantly compared to the upper reaches of the river. Due to the great depth of the river, many parts of it are navigable by ships.
How far does the Amazon river flow into the ocean?
160 kilometresIt discharges so much water into the Atlantic, that, more than 160 kilometres into the open sea, opposite the river mouth, you could still drink freshwater from the ocean. The river has more than 1000 tributaries, and more than 25 of them are over 1000 kilometres long.
Where is the Amazon River located?
The Amazon River is located in the northern portion of South America, flowing from west to east. The river system originates in the Andes Mountains...
How long is the Amazon River?
Most researchers believe that it is at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long. However, no definitive measure is available because no one is entirely su...
Why is the Amazon River famous?
The Amazon is well known for a number of reasons. It is the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms o...
What animals live in the Amazon River?
About 2,500 fish species have been found within the Amazon system, but many more remain unidentified. Among the more important commercial species a...
What is the name of the river that flows through the Amazon?
Then, in 1971, a National Geographic expedition led by Loren McIntyre identified the snow-capped peak of Mismi (map) as the headwaters of the Apurímac River and the ultimate source of the Amazon.
Where did the Amazon River originate?
Explorers and scientists have argued over where to locate the start of the Amazon River since at least the mid-1600s, with no fewer than five rivers in southwestern Peru given the honor over the years.
How long does the Mantaro River run dry?
The trouble with Contos and Tripcevich's claim of overturning this long-held view, say some geographers, is that the Mantaro River runs dry for about five months of the year, when the Tablachaca dam, built in 1974, diverts its flow around its kink, leaving the loop devoid of water.
Which river flows the greatest distance into the Amazon River?
When water flows through the Mantaro, the river "probably has a greater flow distance than any other Amazon tributary," Johnston says. But when the Mantaro is dry, "the Apurímac is once again the place where water flows the greatest distance into the Amazon."
What is the most distant source?
By that measure, they assert, the Mantaro is the most distant source.
Which river is the longest tributary of the Amazon River?
The Apurímac River is the longest tributary flowing into the Amazon when the Mantaro is dry.
How many tributaries are there in the Amazon River?
Five different tributaries have been designated as the source of the Amazon River through the centuries. A new study argues for yet another.
Which direction does the Amazon River flow?
Geological history. Recent geological studies suggest that for millions of years the Amazon River used to flow in the opposite direction - from east to west. Eventually the Andes Mountains formed, blocking its flow to the Pacific Ocean, and causing it to switch directions to its current mouth in the Atlantic Ocean.
What is the Amazon River?
The Amazon was initially known by Europeans as the Marañón, and the Peruvian part of the river is still known by that name today. It later became known as Rio Amazonas in Spanish and Portuguese, and Amazon River in English.
Why is Rio Amazonas called Rio?
The name Rio Amazonas was reportedly given after native warriors attacked a 16th-century expedition by Francisco de Orellana. The warriors were led by women, reminding de Orellana of the Amazon warriors, a tribe of women warriors related to Iranian Scythians and Sarmatians mentioned in Greek mythology . The word Amazon itself may be derived from the Iranian compound *ha-maz-an- " (one) fighting together" or ethnonym *ha-mazan- "warriors", a word attested indirectly through a derivation, a denominal verb in Hesychius of Alexandria 's gloss "ἁμαζακάραν· πολεμεῖν. Πέρσαι" (" hamazakaran: 'to make war' in Persian"), where it appears together with the Indo-Iranian root *kar- "make" (from which Sanskrit karma is also derived).
How many people lived in the Amazon basin in 1850?
The population of the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps 300,000 , of whom about two-thirds were Europeans and slaves, the slaves amounting to about 25,000. The Brazilian Amazon's principal commercial city, Pará (now Belém), had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves.
What is the largest drainage basin in the world?
The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately 7,000,000 square kilometres (2,700,000 sq mi). The portion of the river's drainage basin in Brazil alone is larger than any other river's basin.
How much of the Amazon River flows into the ocean?
At an average discharge of about 209,000 cubic metres per second (7,400,000 cu ft/s; 209,000,000 L/s; 55,000,000 USgal/s)—approximately 6,591 cubic kilometres per annum (1,581 cu mi/a), greater than the next seven largest independent rivers combined—the Amazon represents 20% of the global riverine discharge to the ocean. The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately 7,000,000 square kilometres (2,700,000 sq mi). The portion of the river's drainage basin in Brazil alone is larger than any other river's basin. The Amazon enters Brazil with only one-fifth of the flow it finally discharges into the Atlantic Ocean, yet already has a greater flow at this point than the discharge of any other river.
What is the largest river in the world?
The Amazon River ( UK: / ˈæməzən /, US: / ˈæməzɒn /; Spanish: Río Amazonas, Portuguese: Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river in the world.
Where is the Amazon River located?
The Amazon River is located in the northern portion of South America, flowing from west to east. The river system originates in the Andes Mountains of Peru and travels through Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Brazil before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. Roughly two-thirds of the Amazon’s main stream is within Brazil.
How long is the Amazon River?
Most researchers believe that it is at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long. However, no definitive measure is available because no one is entirely sure where the Amazon ends and begins. Given the complexity of the river system, much of which is in remote areas, researchers have proposed several locations in Peru as its source. As to its end point, the Amazon has three outlets to the Atlantic Ocean: two on the northern side of Marajó Island in Brazil and one to the island’s south that joins the Pará River. Scientists have typically selected one of the northern outlets, since the Pará is an estuary of the Tocantins River, which is technically separate from the Amazon.
Why is the Amazon River famous?
The Amazon is well known for a number of reasons. It is the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. While there is some debate about its length, the river is generally believed to be at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long, which makes it the second longest river in the world after the Nile River in Africa. The Amazon is also famous for the rainforest found along its shores. The Amazon Rainforest represents about half of Earth’s remaining rainforest and is the world’s largest biological reservoir, home to more than a million species.
What is the Amazon rainforest?
The Amazon Rainforest represents about half of Earth’s remaining rainforest and is the world’s largest biological reservoir, home to more than a million species. Read more about the Amazon Rainforest.
Which is longer, the Nile or the Amazon?
Amazon River, Portuguese Rio Amazonas, Spanish Río Amazonas, also called Río Marañón and Rio Solimões, the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. The total length of the river—as measured from the headwaters of the Ucayali - Apurímac river system in southern Peru —is at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km), which makes it slightly shorter than the Nile River but still the equivalent of the distance from New York City to Rome. Its westernmost source is high in the Andes Mountains, within 100 miles (160 km) of the Pacific Ocean, and its mouth is in the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. However, both the length of the Amazon and its ultimate source have been subjects of debate since the mid-20th century, and there are those who claim that the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile. ( See below The length of the Amazon .)
How far does fresh water dilute the ocean?
This immense volume of fresh water dilutes the ocean’s saltiness for more than 100 miles (160 km) from shore. Central and Northern Andes and the Amazon River basin and drainage network Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What is the name of the area that is subject to flooding?
The extensive lowland areas bordering the main river and its tributaries, called várzeas (“floodplains”), are subject to annual flooding, with consequent soil enrichment; however, most of the vast basin consists of upland, well above the inundations and known as terra firme.
Overview
The Amazon River in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered for nearly a century as the Amazon basin's most distant source, until a 2014 study …
Etymology
The Amazon was initially known by Europeans as the Marañón, and the Peruvian part of the river is still known by that name today. It later became known as Rio Amazonas in Spanish and Portuguese.
The name Rio Amazonas was reportedly given after native warriors attacked a 16th-century expedition by Francisco de Orellana. The warriors were led by women, reminding de Orellana of t…
History
Recent geological studies suggest that for millions of years the Amazon River used to flow in the opposite direction - from east to west. Eventually the Andes Mountains formed, blocking its flow to the Pacific Ocean, and causing it to switch directions to its current mouth in the Atlantic Ocean.
During what many archaeologists called the formative stage, Amazonian societi…
Course
The most distant source of the Amazon was thought to be in the Apurímac river drainage for nearly a century. Such studies continued to be published even recently, such as in 1996, 2001, 2007, and 2008, where various authors identified the snowcapped 5,597 m (18,363 ft) Nevado Mismi peak, located roughly 160 km (99 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (430 mi) southeast of
Watershed
The Amazon basin, the largest in the world, covers about 40% of South America, an area of approximately 7,050,000 km (2,720,000 sq mi). It drains from west to east, from Iquitos in Peru, across Brazil to the Atlantic. 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.
Geology
The Amazon River originated as a transcontinental river in the Miocene epoch between 11.8 million and 11.3 million years ago and took its present shape approximately 2.4 million years ago in the Early Pleistocene.
The proto-Amazon during the Cretaceous flowed west, as part of a proto-Amazon-Congo river system, from the interior of present-day Africa when the continents were connected, forming we…
Flora and fauna
More than one-third of all known species in the world live in the Amazon rainforest. It is the richest tropical forest in the world in terms of biodiversity. In addition to thousands of species of fish, the river supports crabs, algae, and turtles.
Along with the Orinoco, the Amazon is one of the main habitats of the boto, als…
Major tributaries
The Amazon has over 1,100 tributaries, twelve of which are over 1,500 km (930 mi) long. Some of the more notable ones are:
• Branco
• Casiquiare canal
• Caquetá