The Amazon River is the world’s largest river and also boasts the world’s largest drainage basin. The Amazon is generally regarded as the second longest river in the world after the Nile, but some geologists have argued that it could be considered the longest depending on which source it is measured from. In any case, it has such a great volume of water that it holds roughly one-fifth of the river flow in the entire world. Flowing through the immense Amazon rain forest, the river is also regarded as one of the cleanest water sources of the world.
Due to its remote rainforest location, no bridges span the Amazon though the engineering technology is capable. In many places the river is quite wide; during the wet season the width might grow more than thirty miles in some sections of the river. Due to its great width and immensity the Amazon is sometimes referred to as the River Sea. The approximate length of the Amazon is usually agreed to be about 4,200 miles. Its basin is 2,720,000 square miles. While the average depth of the river is just shy of seventy feet, it does deepen to more than 330 feet in one area.
The river flows through northern Peru and Brazil, but its many tributaries stretch from Columbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. While the Amazon has well over a thousand tributaries, some of the most significant ones are the Negro, Ica, Madeira, Tigre, Huallaga, Napo, and Tambo Rivers. Most scientists agree that the source of the Amazon is a stream in the Peruvian Andes—specifically from the Nevado Mismi peak which is less than a hundred miles from Lake Titicaca. The precise measurements of the mouth of the Amazon are a matter of much debate as the river’s estuary is connected to the estuaries of other rivers as they all run to the Atlantic. At its widest measurement, the mouth of the mighty river has been said to be as long as the River Thames.
According to scientists one-third of the world’s animal species make their home in the Amazon rain forest which is supported by the Amazon River and its flood cycles. The river itself is known for its rich biodiversity; some notable animals that live in the river are piranha, giant otters, Amazonian manatees, Amazon River dolphins, catfish, bull sharks, and electric eels to name just a few. The notorious anaconda snake lives in the shallows of the Amazon basin.
It is believed that the first European to sail into the Amazon was Vicente Yanez Pinzon in 1500. The first European to lead an expedition of the Amazon River was Francisco de Orellana in 1541 and he also named the river after the mythical tribe of women known as Amazons. Various indigenous tribes have made their home in the Amazon jungle and were dependent on the river to help sustain them. The river is still important to agriculture and transportation today.