One of the longest rivers…
- The Amazon River is in South America and crosses most of the continent, and runs all the way across the top of Brazil.
- The Amazon River is generally named the second largest river in the world.
- There is a debate about the Amazon River being the second longest river in the world. More accurate measuring systems in recent years suggests that the Amazon River is longer than the Nile (supposedly the longest river), which reaches 5,499 to 6,690 km (3,417 – 4,160 miles) in length, whereas the Amazon River is said to be 6,259 to 6,800 km (3,889 – 4,200 miles) in length.
- The Amazon River discharges more water than the other top seven largest rivers combined, with an average discharge of approximately 209,000 m3/s (7,381,000 cu ft/s).
- The Amazon River has the largest river basin in the world being 7, 050, 000 square km (2, 720, 000 square miles) and contains many river systems.
Amazon River
Image courtesy of CIFOR/Flickr
- The Amazon River ranges in width, depending on the season, being 1.6 – 10 km (1 – 6.2 miles) wide in the dry season, and in the wet season the river can reach up to 48 km (3o miles) wide.
- The Amazon River starts its flooding season in November and continues to around June.
- The Amazon River is the home to many animals, most notably the Amazon River dolphin (boto) and the anaconda snake.
- The Amazon River is the home of over 5,600 known fish species.
- The Amazon River has an underground river, called Hamza, flowing underneath it, which is about 6,000 km (3, 730 miles) in length, and generally follows a similar path to the Amazon.
Bibliography:
Amazon River 10 February 2013 , Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River>
