Insight Guides South America by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, South America
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2017-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

Insight: The Riches of the Amazon River

The world’s greatest river and largest rainforest, in the heart of Brazil, is estimated to contain one-tenth of the plant and insect species on earth.

The Amazon River is one of the greatest symbols of Brazil. It rises in the snows of the Peruvian Andes just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean. It then travels across the heart of South America – a distance of 6,570km (4,080 miles) – before it flows out into the Atlantic Ocean at the equator. It has about 15,000 tributaries, some of which, like the Araguaia and the Madeira, are mighty rivers in themselves. Just past Manaus, one of the most spectacular river sights is the meeting of the “black waters” of the Negro River with the “white waters” of the Solimões River, two other Amazon tributaries. The Amazon has a heavier flow than any other river, depositing in the ocean each year about one-fifth of the world’s fresh water.

At its mouth the Amazon is 300km (185 miles) wide, a labyrinth of channels and islands, one of which, Marajó, rivals Switzerland in size. The water flows with such force that it is still fresh 180km (110 miles) out into the ocean.

The Amazon’s network of dark, dense jungles has often been referred to as The Great Green Hell. In the west of the Amazon basin, it is still possible to fly for several hours and see nothing below but a carpet of tropical forest, broken only by rivers snaking their way through the trees. The Amazon has remained virtually unchanged for the past 100 million years, for it did not pass through the same ice ages that altered other parts of the world’s landscapes. Some areas are still inhabited by indigenous groups who have survived through the centuries and have never had contact with the world outside their own jungle.

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