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.
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.
Facts
Amazon is the disputed longest river in the world in terms of length.
the Amazon has been reported as being anywhere between 6,275 and 6,992 kilometres long.
The River Amazon enters the Atlantic Ocean through a broad estuary that has a width of 150 miles.
20% of Earth’s fresh water that enters the oceans comes from Amazon.
The Amazon River has an average discharge of roughly 7,381,000 cubic feet per second.
Two-thirds of the Amazon River is located in Brazil.
The three countries the Amazon River flows through are Brazil, Columbia and Peru.
There are more than 1100 known tributaries flowing into the Amazon River.
At least 17 tributaries flowing into the Amazon are 1500 km in length.
The Amazon floods every year because of the tidal wave known as ‘pororoca’.
Portuguese explorer Pedro Teixeira was the first European to travel the entire river in 1637.
There are at least 2,500 to 5,600 different species of fish living in the Amazon.
fifty new species of fish are discovered each year.
The largest river dolphin species lives in the Amazon River.
Vicente Yañez Pinzón, was the first documented European to see the river in march 1500.
The river was initially known as Marañón River.
Before the Andes’ existence, the Amazon River flowed eastward into the Pacific.
A 2014 study confirmed the Mantaro River in Peru as its most distant source.
The Amazon River originates from a glacial stream from a peak, called Nevado Mismifound in the Peruvian Andes.
The Amazon River is at least 66 feet deep.
The Amazon River is up to 330 feet deep at the deepest points.
It can reach 30 miles in width at the height of the wet season.
The first steamboats began operating on the Amazon River in 1853.
There are 20 stingray species that are found in Amazon today.
The Anaconda, one of the world’s largest snakes, makes its home in the Amazon River.
The Amazon River is home to the piranha.
There are approximately 30 to 60 species of piranha.
Martin Strel swam the length of the Amazon River in 2007
Scientists believe that the Amazon may be longer than the Nile depending on the actual source.
The Amazon River was created some 11.8 million years ago.
There is another river flowing below the Amazon river.
The underground river is named Hamza and flow miles below the surface.
Manaus is the largest city on the Amazon.
There are no bridges across the entire width of the river.
The river supports crabs, algae, and turtles.
The Amazon and its tributaries are the main habitat of the giant otter .
More than 100 species of electric fishes inhabit the Amazon basin.
The bull shark has been reported 4,000 kilometres up the Amazon River at Iquitos in Peru.
