The Amazon River has been around for over 200 million years. It holds the record for “The longest river on Earth”. It has been in battle with the Nile River for a while. There has been different changes in the length of the two.
The Amazon River is the longest river in the world, it measures about 4,345 miles long. The Amazon basin, the largest in the world, covers about 40% of South America, an area of approximately 7,050,000 square km. During the wet season, parts of the Amazon exceed 120 miles in width. The River is close to 328 feet deep. It covers about one-third of the entire continent of South America.
The Amazon River is located in Brazil, Peru and Columbia. The River is right at the equator around the Beltline, it is a tropical zone. The climate there is warm, rainy, and humid. The River twist and turns curves like a snake through the Amazon rainforest. It moves close to 2.7 million sq miles of water. It moves more water than the next eight largest
…show more content…
Its waters are populated by 2,500 different species of fish. Most of the animals that live in the Amazon are endangered of extinction. There are approximately 10 million species of animals, plants and insects known. It is hugely biodiverse, with some 10% of the species known to science calculated to be found there.
The Amazon is subject to heavy rainfall, at least 80 inches and in some areas over 430 inches. One-fifth of the world's freshwater is in the Amazon Basin. This river system is one of the world's most important river systems. Each year the Amazon River empties tons of solid particles into the Ocean. This contains lots of fish food.
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