Amazon forest

Where did the word Amazon come from?

A Greek myth. Francisco de Orellana was a Spanish conquistador
and the first European to travel the length of the Amazon river,
in 1541-42. Along the way, he and his men ran into a tribe of fierce
women warriors, each "doing as much fighting as ten Indian men."
Orellana recalled the Greek myth of warrior women and named the
entire river "Amazonas."

This map shows where largest rainforest in the world is located,

South America. Most of the Amazon is located in Brazil

Geography Of Amazon Forest

Amazon has an equatorial
humid climate, or, in other
words, a hot area with
frequent rains. The pattern of
the rains distribution varies:
some cities, like So Gabriel
da Cachoeira(in Amazonas
State) are rainy than others,
like Rio Branco city (in Acre
State). It occurs because
So Gabriel da Cachoeira is
located exactly at the
Equator Line.

 The Forest embraces

25% South America
area, reaching nine
countries: Brazil,
French Guyana,
Suriname, Guyana,
Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and
Bolivia. The greater
part of the forest,
62%, is located in
Brazil, and the
remaining 38%, in the
other countries.

 In Brazil, the Amazon

RainForest is called Legal
Amazon, and embraces
about 60% of the Brazilian
territory, spreading over the
following states: Acre,
Amazonas, Par, Rondnia,
Roraima, Tocantins, west of
Maranho and north of Mato
Grosso. This area is
equivalent to a half of the
European continent, with an
area of 5,026,552 km2, with
an estimated population (in
1990) of 17,193,446
inhabitants. It could be the
sixth largest country of the
world!

The hidrography of Amazon is composed by the largest

basin of the world, with an area of 7,050,000 square meters,
that drains the lands of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, corresponding to 25% of South
America.
Rio Negro River and Solimes River came across to form
Amazonas River, the largest river of the world in flow of
water, with 230,000 cubic meters of water per second. This
volume occurs because the river flows in a plain, with a
declivity about 2 centimeters per kilometer. This physical
condition promotes slow water flow that become
accumulated in determined points of the river. It ranks as the
largest in the world in terms of catchment area, number of
tributaries, and volume of water discharged.

The width of the river Amazonas, in dry season, has an

average of 4 to 5 kilometers, increasing, in some places, to
50 kilometers, in wet season. The average speed of river
water is 2.5 kilometers per hour, increasing to 7, in wet
season. The annual outflow from the river accounts for onefifth of all the fresh water that drains into the oceans of the
world. The outpouring of water and sediment is so vast that
the salinity and color of the Atlantic Ocean are altered for a

long distance.

The river begins in a Peruvian

lake, named Apurimac, at
Andes Mountain Range,
passing later to be called
Ucaiali, and soon after,
Solimes. This immense river,
that receives four names along
its course, is the second
largest fluvial artery of the
world, with a length of 6,571
kilometers, just losing for the
Nile river, in Africa, that has a
length of 6,696 kilometers. The
third place is occupied by
Mississippi-Missouri Rivers,
with 6,418 kilometers.