Learning interesting facts is always informative and interesting. One of these facts are geographical records - the most high mountain, the deepest sea or the longest river on earth. The record holder for the length is the Amazon River, which flows through South America.

Record length of the Amazon

The length of the Amazon was decided not so long ago, when it became possible to study geographical objects using satellites. And as soon as its length was recalculated, it removed the African Nile from its pedestal, ahead of it by several tens of kilometers. Calculating the length of the Amazon along with the origins, scientists got the figure of 6992 km (against 6852 km of the Nile).

Geographic Description

The Amazon flows through the South American continent and flows into Atlantic Ocean. It originates in the Andes - mountains located in the southern part of Peru. Other countries the river crosses:

• Brazil (most of it is located in this country).
• Ecuador.
• Bolivia.
• Colombia.

The river delta is also one of the largest and has an area of ​​​​more than 100 thousand km². Here you can observe a unique phenomenon - a huge wave formed by the tides, which reaches up to 4 m in height and moves up the river at high speed. The roar from the water shaft is heard at a distance of several hundred kilometers.

Amazon records are not limited to length. At its mouth is the island of Marajo, which is the largest river island in the world. Its area is more than 19 thousand km². The mouth of the river branches into three parts, each of which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. From here, large ocean liners enter the river, which can move inland along it for more than 1600 km, to the port of Manaus. In total, about two-thirds of the Amazon basin is navigable.

During the rainy season, the river can rise to 20 m and overflow in some places up to 40 km. This period lasts from March to May. It flows through the territory with an equatorial climate, characterized by stability and minimal changes during the year. average temperature air in these parts - 25-28 degrees during the day.

The greatest depth is at around 130 m. The river system includes more than 500 tributaries. Among them there are large and long rivers, for example, Rio Negro, Madeira, Xingu, Isa, Tapajos. Their length exceeds 1500 km.

Flora and fauna of the world's longest water artery

The area around the longest river on the planet is called Amazonia, it is a unique ecosystem that includes a huge number of representatives of the animal and flora, including rare ones. And again, the river is ahead of all such corners of the planet, because the world's largest forest grows around its banks. The type of this forest ecosystem is the humid tropics.

More than 4 thousand tree species and an innumerable number of plants, shrubs, and flowers grow in the Amazonian tropics.

During high tides, coastal forests are flooded, but the species growing there have long adapted to life in such conditions and calmly endure the difficulties of surviving under water. Notable and interesting trees:

• hevea;
• chocolate tree;
• cinchona;
• red;
• papaya;
• palm trees, including banana.

A variety of ferns, shrubs, beautiful orchids grow around the longest river. Among the interesting and rare plants stands out the world's largest water lily called Victoria Regia, whose diameter can reach two meters. The Amazon forest is full of surprises and unexplored places where there may be plants and animals or insects not yet known to people.

fauna inhabitants

In the territories around this waterway, a unique gene pool of animals, birds, insects, and reptiles has been collected. The Amazon River features one of the world's most diverse animal kingdoms.

Almost a third of all species live in the river basin freshwater fish on the planet. This is about 2.5 thousand. World fame, although not very positive, was brought to these waters by piranhas - small predatory fish with sharp teeth to which more than one horror film has been dedicated.

Among interesting views: bull shark, pink dolphin, electric eel, reaching 2 m in length. One of the oldest existing fish - arapaima, can grow up to 2 m. This species has a history of 400 million years.

More than 250 species of mammals, snakes live in the Amazon: the Cayman crocodile, huge snake anaconda up to 12 m long, monkeys, tapir, jaguar, capybara. More than 400 species of birds, including the famous little hummingbirds, a huge number of colorful and diverse butterflies and other insects - this is just a known part of the fauna that inhabits the areas around the longest river. Some of the species living here are not found anywhere else on the planet, for example, white dolphin or Amazonian otter.

The Amazon accounts for about half of all known living organisms on Earth, so it is rightfully considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

What role does the Amazon play in the Earth's ecosystem?

This long river is of great importance for the ecology of the planet. If we destroy the unique natural world Amazon, all life on the planet will be at risk. This river with its adjacent forests is often referred to as the "lungs of the planet". The crowns of the trees and shrubs of the region produce a strategic supply of oxygen, help curb the greenhouse effect by participating in the processing of harmful substances released into the atmosphere. The chemical balance of the composition of the air on the planet largely depends on the well-being of the rainforest around the Amazon.

Medicinal plant species grow around the longest river and are used to produce pharmaceuticals and natural medicines. A quarter of the world's known representatives of the flora grow here. healing properties. This directly links the Amazon to the safety of mankind.

Unfortunately, this miracle of nature has long been threatened by uncontrolled destruction of forests for valuable timber, industrial pollution and poaching. Among the most important tasks facing environmentalists and governments around the world today is the problem of ecology of the longest river on the planet.

The Amazon is one of the greatest river systems on the planet, the mouth and source of which are located at different ends of the South American continent.

Geography of the Amazon

If you look at the map of South America, you can see that the river stretches almost from the very west of the continent to its eastern shore. The mouth of the river is located in the Andean mountain system on the territory of the state of Peru. This section of the mountain range is usually considered separately under the name of the Central Andes.

The area where the source is located is considered one of the wettest places on the planet with a high annual percentage of precipitation (on average, about 7000 mm per year). Two rivers start here at once, the Marañon and the Ucayale, which merge directly into the stream of the Amazon. Some researchers, especially among Brazilians, tend not to single out the Ucayale River, but consider it a continuation of the Amazon itself. If we agree with this opinion, then the Amazon will surpass even the African Nile in its length.

Only the initial part of the Amazon flows through the mountains. More than 5,000 km of its length extends into the lowlands, named after the Amazon River. This makes the river wide, has an even flow and enables large ocean-going vessels to go deep into the mainland for several thousand kilometers.

The mouth of the river is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and has a huge width. It makes up the Amazon Delta, in the center of which a huge island was formed from the silt brought by the river, which is considered the largest among the river islands.

The Importance of the Amazon in South American Life

The main part of the Amazonian lowland and the entire course of the river itself falls into the territory of only one country - Brazil. Since tropical rainforests stretch along the Amazon, through which it is almost impossible to create a normal road network, the river and its tributaries are the main method of movement of people and goods from the ocean coast deep into the mainland.

Also, the river and its basin is home to a huge number of rare animals, such as:

• Amazon Dolphins.
• Sloths.
• Jaguar.
• Capybara.
• Giant anaconda.

The Indians call the Amazon "Parana-Thing", which means "Queen of the Rivers". Indeed, this river is in all respects the greatest in the world.

It carries a quarter of all the waters carried into the ocean by the rivers of our planet. And the area of ​​​​its basin - more than seven million square kilometers - allows you to place in it the entire mainland of Australia or a country like the United States.

At the mouth of the Amazon, the width of the Amazon reaches two hundred kilometers, and the depth is one hundred meters! Even near the Peruvian city of Iquitos, three and a half thousand kilometers from the mouth, the depth of the river is more than twenty meters, so ships get here.

The full flow of the Amazon is explained simply: it flows almost exactly along the equator, and the usual summer rainy season for these places alternately occurs in the northern hemisphere (in March-September), on its left tributaries, then in the southern (from October to April) - on the right tributaries.

Thus, the great river actually lives in a constant flood.

Until recently, it was not known exactly where the origins of the Amazon lie. Its length, together with the main of the two sources, the Ucayali River, was approximately determined at 6565 kilometers, which put the Queen of Rivers in second place in the world after the Nile, which is more than a hundred kilometers longer.

But an international expedition organized in 1995, having reached the upper reaches of the Ucayali, discovered that this source, in turn, is formed from the confluence of two rivers: Apurimac and Urubamba.

Coming to the source of the Alurimak River, the researchers determined that the total length of the entire grandiose water system Apurimac-Ucayali-Amazon - 7025 kilometers and, therefore, it is she who is the first in the world in length. The Nile with its sources the White Nile, Albert Nile, Victoria Nile, Lake Victoria Kageroy is almost three hundred kilometers shorter.

Seventeen of them are from 1800 to 3500 kilometers long. (This, for comparison, is the length of the Don and the Volga!) The huge mass of river water carried by the Amazon desalinates the sea 400 kilometers from the mouth.

The largest river island in the world, located in the Amazon delta - the island of Marajo, has an area of ​​​​48 thousand square kilometers, that is, more than Switzerland or the Netherlands, and the entire delta is larger than Bulgaria.

The river gets its name Amazon after the confluence of the Ucayali with the Marañon River.

Both sources begin in the Andes and break through to the plain through narrow rocky gorges - pongo. At the bottom of these gorges there is no place even for a narrow path - it is a continuous bubbling ferocious stream with stones sticking out here and there, sometimes narrowing to twenty meters.

Particularly wayward character in Maranion. On the way from the mountains, he passes through 27 pongos. The lower, most formidable of them is Pongo de Manserice ("Gate of the Parrots"). Breaking through the last canyon, the river enters the vast plain of the Amazon and becomes navigable.

The Amazonian lowland, or Amazonia, is the greatest lowland on Earth. This is a vast realm of swamps and jungles, where the only roads are rivers.

However, these roads are enough in abundance - after all, the rivers of the Amazon are navigable for eight thousand kilometers.

During floods, when the level of the Amazon rises by twenty meters, low banks are flooded for 80-100 kilometers in the area.

Huge territories then represent an endless sea with trees sticking out of the water.

In normal times, the Amazon does not look like a giant river, because it breaks into many branches separated by islands.

There are also floating islands on the river, slowly moving downstream. They are formed by intertwined plant roots and fallen tree trunks, on which new vegetation has risen.

The slope of the Amazonian lowland is so small that the influence of ocean tides is noticeable here even 1000 kilometers from the mouth of the river.

A special feature of the Amazonian tides is the famous “pororoka”.

From the collision of a mighty river with a tidal wave going towards the Amazon, a high shaft is formed, topped with a foamy ridge. It rolls up the river with a loud rumble, sweeping away everything in its path.

Woe to a ship that does not have time to take shelter in a side channel or in a bay in advance - a roaring six-meter water wall will turn it over and sink it.

From time immemorial, the Indians have experienced a superstitious fear of this mysterious and formidable phenomenon, which seemed to them some kind of terrible monster, devastating the coast and terrifying with its bubbling roar.

Hence the name of the formidable shaft - pororoka ("thundering water").

The first end-to-end voyage across the Amazon from the Andes to the ocean was made in 1842 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Orellana. For eight months, his detachment sailed along the river for almost six thousand kilometers.

Now it’s even hard to imagine what it cost the Spaniards this almost incredible journey across the entire continent without maps, without knowledge of the characteristics of the river and the languages ​​​​of local tribes, without food supplies, on a fragile home-made boat.

Crocodiles and anacondas, piranhas and river sharks - all these “charms” of the Amazon the Orellana squad had to experience, as they say, on their own skin.

More than once on the way, the Spaniards had a chance to face warlike Indians. In one place, at the mouth of the Trombetas River, the fighting was especially fierce.

And most of all, the conquistadors were struck by the fact that tall half-naked women armed with bows fought in the forefront of the Indian warriors.

They stood out for their fearlessness even against the background of their fellow tribesmen. The brave warriors reminded the Spaniards of the ancient myth of the Amazons - female warriors who did not know defeat.

Therefore, Orellana named the river Amazon.

Since then on great river visited by many scientists and researchers.

The Frenchman Condamine, the German Humboldt, the Englishman Bates and the Russian traveler Langsdorf at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century managed to penetrate the jungle of the Amazon and discovered for science the amazing living world of the Queen of the Rivers and the surrounding humid forests.

The waters of the local rivers are home to 2,000 species of fish - a third of the diversity of the freshwater fish kingdom of the Earth. (In all rivers of Europe - only 300 species.)

Among the unique inhabitants of the Amazon is a giant five-meter pyraruku (or arapaima), reaching 200 kilograms of weight.

A two-meter electric eel that knocks a person down with a discharge of 300 volts, huge river rays with a deadly spike on their tail, a dangerous river shark and a small toothy piranha that terrifies the locals.

The aggressiveness of this predatory creature is indescribable. A hunter who has shot a wild boar or a tapir from a boat often does not have time to swim with a trophy in tow to the shore: from a hefty carcass, a flock of bloodthirsty fish leaves one skeleton.

It happens that for the successful passage of the herd across the river, the shepherds have to sacrifice one cow, which, having previously been injured, is brought into the water below the crossing.

While the piranhas deal with the victim, the rest of the animals have time to cross the ford. Even a vicious predator caught on a bait desperately wriggles in the hands of a fisherman, striving to bite off his finger with razor-sharp teeth.

Huge manatees are also found in the Amazon - relatives of the sea cow, and river dolphins, and five-meter crocodiles - black caimans, the victims of which are often not only two-meter tapirs or miniature baker pigs who came to the watering hole, but also careless hunters.

True, the Indians still say that "one big crocodile is better than three small piranhas" ...

But perhaps the most famous inhabitant of the Amazonian waters is the monstrous anaconda water boa. There are anacondas up to 12 meters long and two meters in girth!

However, hunters talk about fifteen - and even eighteen-meter snakes. It is difficult even to imagine such a "living pipe" that could reach the ground, hanging from the roof of a six-story building.

Places where anacondas are found, and experienced Indian hunters bypass. Not a single animal in the selva (as the Amazonian forests are called in Brazil) can resist the two-hundred-kilogram giantess. Sometimes even jaguars swimming across the river become victims of the anaconda.

And on the smooth surface of calm oxbows and bays in the countless arms of the Amazon, one and a half meter leaves of the largest water lily in the world, Victoria Regia, sway. Round, with upturned edges, they resemble some strange green frying pans. On such a sheet, like Thumbelina, a child of twelve or fourteen years old can sit quietly.

Wet a tropical forest Amazonia is the richest in number of species of all forests growing on our planet. On ten square kilometers here you can count up to 1500 different types flowers, 750 species of trees, more than a hundred different mammals, 400 species of birds and many snakes, amphibians and insects.

Many of them are still unknown and not described.

Most big trees selva reaches 90 meters in height and 12 meters in girth. Even their names sound like music: bertolecia, mamorana, cinnamon, cedarella, babasu, rattan, hevea ...

Many of them are of great value.

Tall Bertholets are famous for their delicious nuts. In one shell, weighing several kilograms, there are up to two dozen of these nuts.

They are collected only in calm weather, as the “packaging” torn off by the wind can lay down a careless picker on the spot.

The sweet and nutritious juice of the milk tree resembles milk in taste, and cocoa is obtained from the fruits of the chocolate tree.

Everyone, of course, has heard about the fruits of the melon tree - papaya, and about hevea, the main rubber plant modern world, and of the cinchona tree, whose bark provides humanity with the only remedy to relieve attacks of malaria, that scourge of the rainforests.

There are many trees in the selva with beautiful colored wood, like the pau-brazil mahogany, which gave the name to the largest country in South America. And the wood of the balsa tree is the lightest in the world. It is lighter than cork.

Indians build giant jangada rafts from balsa, floating timber down the Amazon, Rio Negro, Madeira and others. major rivers. Such rafts sometimes reach hundreds of meters in length and twenty in width, so that an entire village is sometimes placed on them.

But most of all in the Amazon of palm trees - over a hundred species! Almost all of them: coconut, babasu, tukuma, mukata, bakaba, zhupati and karana - benefit a person. Some - with their nuts, others - with wood, others - with fiber, fourth - with fragrant juice.

And only the rattan palm is mercilessly cursed by the inhabitants of the selva.

Exactly this long tree on the ground (sometimes it reaches three hundred meters!) - in essence, a liana. Its thin trunk is all dotted with sharp spikes.

Clinging to other trees with them, the rattan palm reaches up towards the sun. Intertwining tree branches and trunks, it forms absolutely impenetrable thorny thickets.

No wonder the Indians call it the "devil's rope."

Animals - inhabitants of the selva - are no less diverse than plants. This is the largest animal of the Amazon - the shy and cautious tapir, and the giant capybara - the world champion among rodents. (Imagine a good-natured “mouse” weighing two pounds!)

There are many monkeys here, and they are completely different from their counterparts from Africa or Asia. Among them is the creepy wakiri, or "death's head", whose white muzzle resembles the skull of a dead man.

This one and a half meter cat is not afraid to attack even two-meter anacondas!

And in December, ocelots arrange mating concerts at night, like our March cats.

The most inconspicuous and inactive beast of the selva is, of course,. He spends his whole life hanging with his back down on the branches of trees and slowly absorbing the foliage around him. In order not to move, he manages to turn his head not even 180, but 270 degrees!

This phlegmatic breathes only once every eight seconds. On land, if it happens to descend to the ground, the sloth moves at a speed of 20 centimeters per minute, as in slow motion filming.

The "agile simpleton", as the Brazilians jokingly call him, is a tasty prey for the jaguar, and for the ocelot, and for the boa constrictor, and even for the harpy eagle. The sloth is saved by the fact that in its wool ... algae start up, coloring its skin in a protective greenish color.

Because of this, the immobile sloth is almost invisible on the branch, and the predator often does not notice it.

Under the canopy of branches in the darkness of the night, vampire bats silently sweep by. Their small thin teeth are so sharp that a person bitten in a dream does not feel pain and only, waking up in the morning, finds that the pillow is covered in blood, and there is a tiny wound on the neck.

Of the hundreds of species of selva birds, the most famous in our country, of course, are tiny, the size of a bee,.

And huge, up to a meter in length, macaw parrots. Their bright plumage, as well as the sparkling wings of numerous butterflies, enliven the monotonous greenery of the forest.

And above the crowns of the trees, the most terrible feathered predator of the Amazon - the crested tropical eagle harpy-monkey-eater soars. Powerful muscles and five-centimeter claws make the harpy a real thunderstorm for small monkeys and sloths.

There are many snakes in the forests of the Amazon basin, including poisonous ones. It is no coincidence that Brazil ranks first in the world in terms of the number of people who die each year from snake bites. But the Indians have long tamed small boas and kept them in huts to protect them from rodents and snakes.

A huge tarantula spider strikes and terrifies.

It feeds on careless hummingbirds caught in its wide, like a fishing net, web. And Indian children, for the sake of mischief, sometimes put a rope loop on this spider and lead it around the village like a dog.

But the worst thing for the inhabitants of the selva is not formidable predators and Poisonous snakes and spiders, and small ants are Sakasaya. They live in large colonies underground, but from time to time they emerge from there in huge hordes and move through the forest in a deadly river, destroying all life in their path.

The Amazon is called the most water-bearing river in the world, because it is she who carries a fifth of fresh water in the world to the ocean. The water flow is so huge that when it flows into the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of the Amazon change their color and salt composition. This continues for 320 kilometers. Even by other parameters, the Amazon is the greatest river, and also one of the longest rivers in the world. The Amazon flows in South America, its beginning is in the Andes, in Peru. The river ends its journey in the Atlantic Ocean from Brazil. Various sources say that the length of the Amazon varies between 6259-6800 kilometers. It allows you to get acquainted with real natural wonders and learn interesting facts. Compare with nature.

The Amazon River consists of a large number of rivers and forests that cross half of Brazil and some neighboring states. The basin of this river is truly the largest in the world - 7.2 million square kilometers. This also applies to water content. The Amazon is formed by the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon rivers. From the source, the length of Marañon reaches 6400 kilometers, but the length of Ucayali is even greater - 7 thousand kilometers. The Amazon ends its journey in the Atlantic Ocean, thus forming the largest inland delta in the world - more than one hundred thousand square kilometers. Funnel-shaped mouths are formed - these are sleeves that cover the huge island of Marajo. Look here for where it is.

According to some reports, the Amazon got its name thanks to the Spanish conquistadors, they fought on the coast of the mighty river with the Indians. The conquistadors were amazed at the fearlessness of the Indian women who fought alongside the men. The Spaniards, looking at the strong and brave warriors, remembered the legends of the Amazons. This is how the mighty river got its name.

History of the discovery of the Amazon

In the forties of the sixteenth century, no one had heard of the Amazons. After all, by this time the era of matriarchy had long ended, male power had been established everywhere. This attitude to the ancient legends of the Spanish conquistadors cost dearly. And at that time they became famous for their pathological greed, unscrupulousness and cruelty, especially in South America. One detachment of such conquistadors, led by Francisco de Orellana, set off in the direction of the South American continent in 1541. He decided to cross the mainland and get to the shores of the Atlantic.

At first, the Spaniards walked through the jungle, but soon got to the shores big river, having built boats, they sailed on it. From time to time, they met villages on their way. The Spanish invaders immediately landed ashore to check financial condition people and inform them that they are now subjects of the Spanish crown. A long and difficult journey, accompanied by a monotonous landscape, finally led them in 1542 to a large village, which stretches along the banks of a wide river. The king's subjects climbed to the high floor and looked around, in the distance they saw the figures of puny long-haired Indians. And the harsh conquistadors set off towards these natives.

Further events took place in the shameful pages of the history of the Spanish kingdom, as well as the entire male gender. The Indians did not want to share their material wealth, and certainly not recognize the power of the Spanish king. Moreover, they did not want outsiders to remain on their territory. The fearless conquistadors, after a furious and short skirmish, shamefully fled. Since women turned out to be the opponents to a greater extent, the defeat became doubly insulting. Women threw themselves into battle without men, their courage not supported by the opposite sex.

Although the Spaniard Francisco tried a couple more times to defeat these natives, however, the resistance of women again took over. Their fury was so strong that the Spanish subjects hastily retreated. Having licked their wounds and counted the losses, the Spaniards involuntarily admired the courage of the women of this impenetrable jungle. When the journey ended, Francisco de Orellana named the river the Amazon, because such brave women lived here. Everyone liked this name. And in 1553, when the Spanish priest, historian and geographer Cieza de Leon published his book, he also used this name. Soon the official name of this deep river in the world has become - the Amazon.

Animal world of the Amazon

Thanks to similar climatic conditions, in the Amazon there is a wide variety of different living creatures. Some species of river dwellers are found only in the Amazon River. Among predatory fish, sharks are especially worth highlighting. Most often, we are talking about the blunt shark, which is also called the bull shark. All such a shark is about three hundred kilograms, and its size reaches more than three meters. Although the blunt-nosed shark can attack a person, however, due to its bony constitution, such food is not a priority for him.

The Amazon is also popular due to the bloodthirsty piranhas. These fish have one distinguishing feature are teeth. What gives the fish a death grip, but such that they are able to bite even a stick. What to say about meat. It only takes a few minutes for piranhas to gnaw on a whole horse or pig, so that only a skeleton remains of them. Amazonian dolphins, which are of medium size, effectively fight piranhas. Therefore, piranhas cannot be called the owners of the Amazon. After all, there are caimans (alligators) that love to feast on these small predators.

In total, about 2,500 species of various fish live in the river. It is worth immediately noting the electric eel. Such a snake-like creature reaches a length of two meters, and the voltage can reach 300 volts. There are a lot of ornamental fish in the river. Most of them can be seen in home aquariums around the world. For example, on all continents they are familiar with guppies and swordtails.

The queen of rivers can really be proud of wealth underwater world, because such a terrible creature as a river anaconda lives here. The length of the world's largest water boa reaches eight to nine meters. Anaconda has no opponents, because it can destroy both the jaguar and the caiman. Death grip, lightning-fast snake throw strikes any opponent. Locals compose many legends and stories about anacondas, of course, many of them are just beautiful fairy tales.

Some Europeans call the anaconda a safe animal, according to them, brave travelers defeated anacondas simply by stunning them. However, there is no confirmation of this yet.

Source and Delta of the Amazon

Today, the great Amazon River is considered the longest, only some time ago this title belonged to the Nile River, whose length reached almost 6700 kilometers. At that time, it seemed that no other river could surpass the Nile in this parameter. The Amazon River was in second place, with its length of 6400 kilometers. The Amazon began from a group of lakes that were in Peruvian waters. The Jesuit Samuel Fritz announced a similar location for the source of the Amazon River as early as the 18th century. Then he was supported by Antonia Raymond, an Italian naturalist. According to his statement, the mighty river begins its journey in the Cordelier Raura.

From here follows the mountain river Marañon, the rapid streams of which reach Pontzhdo de Manserish. It is here that the waters become a slow and majestic river that slowly follows east. For 1800 kilometers, the river flows alone. Only then does it intersect with the Ucayali River. These two streams reunite and become the great Amazon River, which ends its journey in the Atlantic Ocean.

Initially, the source of the Amazon River was the main tributary of the Marañon. Logically, you can decide that the issue is resolved and closed. But everything turned out to be wrong. Colonel Gerardo Dianderas told the Peruvian Geographical Society in 1934 that the Ucayali River should be given priority over the Marañón. Ucayali begins on the mountain slope of Huagra. The venerable researchers were not surprised by his ardent speeches, although the colonel quite reasonably asserted. The dimensions of the Ucayali River are much smaller than the Marañon, which is a large navigable river. Due to a series of tests, the great river has been moved eastward on the map, so it has become much longer.

A huge area near the Amazon Delta is one hundred thousand square kilometers, with a width of two hundred kilometers. There are many channels and straits where a large number of islands. The Amazon Delta does not fall into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, this moment can be explained by powerful ocean tides that come into conflict with mighty river flows.

There are many surprises on the great Amazon River that lead people into confusion and bewilderment. The unique flora and fauna of the Amazon attracts a large number of students here.

We welcome all readers of the site "I and the World"! If you are asked the question: where is the Amazon River? Can you answer through which countries it flows and on which mainland it is located? Where does it start and where does it end? In what direction is it flowing? In this article, we will try to answer these and other questions.

This incredible river is full of such surprises that you simply did not know about. Almost 20% of the oxygen for the surrounding world is produced by its forests, and reserves drinking water quite a large number. It is so large that some tribes living on its shores are completely unfamiliar with civilization.

Without a doubt, the Amazon is the largest in South America. In what direction does it flow? Its waters flow from west to east, crossing almost the entire continent and flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

It has three sources: if we consider its length in km, then from one of them, the length will be over 7000. Most of it flows in Brazil, the rest of the distance belongs to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. total area its basin is almost the same as the entire continent of Australia.

The diet of the Amazon is quite diverse: from many tributaries, from precipitation, since the climate on the river is constantly humid. She also receives snow recharge. The world map clearly shows that the river is located almost on the equator, and a huge amount of precipitation falls here every year. And that's why it's so full of water. There are a huge number of rapids in this part, so there can be no talk of any shipping.

The nature of the current of the Amazon depends on the topography of the area through which it flows. At the beginning, the course is quite rough, because you have to make your way through the mountains and hills. Going down, the waters flow quite smoothly and calmly, due to the small slope of the terrain.

The photo shows that the Amazon is so overflowing that it looks more like a sea and reaches 80 km in width. But this figure cannot be compared with the width of the mouth - 325 km and a depth of 135 m.

Here are some pretty Interesting Facts. On the territory of Brazil, where the Amazon flows, they discovered a very long underground river just under the Amazon at a depth of 4 km. According to some signs, its width reaches 400 km, and the speed of the current is only 1 mm per second.

Animal world so diverse that more than half of all species living on our planet live here. And there are more than 10 million of them. The basin of the entire river is called the "kingdom of palm trees", because of all the plants, more than 800 species of palm trees grow here. In many photos and pictures, we see a variety of vegetation in its pool.

Opportunities for economic development are rather big. This is fishing, and shipping, and the construction of power plants, and its huge water reserves are used by man to irrigate farmland. And although the use of the river is not so great compared to its size, but even the smallest intervention in the life of the Amazon has a detrimental effect on the environment.

Which river is longer: the Volga, the Nile or the Amazon?

The Volga is about twice as short as the Amazon, although it is considered the longest in Europe. And the Nile River, which flows in Africa, is slightly inferior in length to the Amazon, so we also talked about the longest river in the world (although no one can accurately name the distance between these two rivers).

We tried to make for you beautiful description Amazon, to tell about its inhabitants, about its features, in which countries it flows, where the sources and mouth of this famous river, its length in kilometers.

If you want to go there, try to be more attentive to its dangers. And we say goodbye to you! See you soon! If you liked the article, please share with your friends.