The deepest rivers in the world. The respiratory system of the Earth is the majestic Amazon River, the largest in the world Description of the Amazon tributary

The Amazon is one of the largest rivers the globe. At the same time her river basin- one of the most understudied on Earth. There are still places in the Amazon where no human foot has ever set foot. In this article you will find a brief overview of the Amazon, as well as learn about the main stages of its economic development.

Amazon River: characteristics, description (brief)

most notable natural object throughout South America, of course, is the Amazon River. The basin area of ​​this huge water artery planets - about 7.2 million km 2. This territory, full of so-called "white spots", is usually called in one word - Amazonia. Of course, quite deservedly, the Amazon in 2011 was included in the list of seven natural wonders of our planet.

The territory of the Amazon is divided among themselves by eight states: Brazil (about 65%), Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and Ecuador. The Amazon river system is located in the equatorial and subequatorial latitudes, and the river itself flows from west to east, where it flows into Atlantic Ocean, forming a vast delta. The size of this delta is comparable in area to such a European state as Bulgaria!

The river system of the Amazon is very well developed due to abundant rainfall. On its way, the river receives many tributaries, the largest of which are Jurua, Madeira, Topajos, Tocantes, Isa and Rio Negro.

The scale of this river system can be judged by such an indicator as the average annual flow. For the Amazon River, it is over 7 thousand km 3 of water (which is approximately equal to 15% of the entire planet).

The Amazon is navigable for 4,300 kilometers upstream. The main ports on the river are Santarém, Obidos, Iquitos, Manaus.

An amazing discovery was made by scientists in 2011. The fact is that under the Amazon basin flows the world's largest underground river, four kilometers long. She was named Hamza, after the Indian scientist who discovered the miracle river.

Most of the Amazon is occupied by selva. It's unique natural ecosystem consisting of moist rainforests. The selva is characterized by very high humidity, high species diversity plants, high swampy territory and acidic, very poor, soils. It is through such territories that the South American Amazon River flows.

Economic use rivers - what is it like today? And how was the Amazon developed by man throughout history? This will be discussed further.

Amazon: economic use of the river

Amazonia is often referred to as the "green lungs" of the planet. How did the development of this region take place and at what level is the economic use of the Amazon carried out today?

Brazil made the first attempts to develop this region. In general, there are three main historical stages that marked the economic use of the Amazon River.

The first stage can be conditionally called "rubber". It began at the end of the 19th century and continued until the 20s of the 20th century, when the "rubber boom" on the continent began to decline. At that time, rubber confidently occupied the second position in the structure of Brazil's exports (after coffee).

The second stage of the development of the Amazon began in the 60s of the twentieth century and was distinguished by its scale and regularity. The economic use of the Amazon River at that time was completely regulated by the state, and the project itself even got its name "Operation Amazon". It included the integrated agricultural development of the region, the creation of transport infrastructure, and, as a result, the mass settlement of this territory.

The third stage of the development of the Amazon begins in the 80s of the twentieth century. It can be called "mineral raw material". During this period, quarries and factories for processing raw materials open in the river basin, and the development of oil fields begins.

Ecological problems of the Amazon

The economic use of the Amazon River could not but entail certain environmental problems. The most acute among them are the following:

• soil degradation and erosion;
• uncontrolled;
• destruction of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna of the Brazilian selva;
• contamination of soils and waters with heavy metals, etc.

One way or another, all these problems are closely related and require integrated approach to their decision.

Finally

The Amazon river system spans over 7 million square kilometers territory, being the largest river in the world. The economic use of the Amazon River today is not so great, but even such a slight human impact provokes a number of acute environmental problems.

Amazon length: 6400 kilometers.

Area of ​​the Amazon Basin: 7,180 square kilometers.

Where does the Amazon flow? The Amazon is the longest river in the world after it, originates at 10 ° 30` south latitude, 230 km northeast of Lima, from Lake Lavrikokha on a flat Bombon hill (4,300 m), spreading between Western and Eastern; first, it flows in meanders through a narrow mountain valley 220 km long, forming a series of waterfalls and rapids; only at Hen de Bracamoras, already after 700 km of stretch, it becomes navigable; after that, in an arc of 250 km, it turns to the northeast and east and cuts through the Cordillera with 13 streams, or pongo (gates). Near Rentema, it flows at an altitude of 378 m and widens to 1,600 m, then, after running through a space of 950 km, it enters the wooded under the tropics, where, no longer presenting obstacles to navigation, it continues on its way through the lowlands of Peru and for 3,650 km and flows under the equator into. Its total length is 5,000 km.

mouth of the amazon consists of three main branches, forming the islands of Caviana and Mexiana, and near the island of Maraio has a width of 250 km. From this main estuary, called the Canal Braganza, or Rio Macapu, a whole series of branches run southward, of which the largest is called Tahapuru, joining with the Rio Gran Para, which flows into the ocean in the northeast. Lying between two main mouths about. Maraio has an area of ​​19,270 square km. Despite the mass of land washed off the coast, the Amazon does not form deltas at its mouth, on the contrary, it demolished several islets from it; it has many shoals, and therefore its course often changes. The headwaters of the river up to Tabatinga are called Tunguragua and Marañon, before the Rio Negro flows into it, it is called Solimoos, and further to the mouth - Amazonas. Common name The “Amazonian River” comes from a legend according to which a tribe of warlike women lived on its banks, or from the word “Amassona”, that is, the destroyers of boats, by which name the Indians in the 16th century called this tribe.

The Amazon has over 200 tributaries, of which 100 are navigable; 17 rivers of the first magnitude flow into it with a length of 1500-3500 km; all these rivers form a water area of ​​​​7,337,000, and with the exception of Tocantin - 6,500,000 km2. The eastern slope of the Andes from 3 ° north. latitude to 20 ° south latitude delivers its waters to the Amazon River. Its six tributaries are more significant in length and quantity of water, but even the largest of them, the Rio Negro and Madeira, when flowing into it, have no effect on its course; their waters only at first in a narrow space near the coast have a different color, then they completely merge with it. Almost all tributaries form deltas at their confluence and often from main river branches emerge that flow into tributaries, so that a continuous network of branches and islands is formed: it is possible, for example, to sail in boats from Santarem up to Obidos, bypassing the main course of the river. The branching of one of the side arms of Madeira, reconnecting with the Amazon after 350 km of its flow, formed its largest island, Ilga dos Tumpinambarana, with a space of 14,300 square km, on which the last remnants of the once powerful Tumpinambas people were preserved.

The entrance to the Amazon is very dangerous, since there are many shoals at the mouths. As a tropical river, the Amazon is the opposite of the Nile, since it does not pass through different belts, but flows almost its entire length in an equatorial direction, and therefore over almost its entire space it overflows to incredible limits from falling rains. rainy time for the Amazon and all its mountain tributaries, it happens from January to March, and then the water, having risen by 10-15 m, protrudes from its banks for many miles. The flood lasts about 120 days. Stretching along the coast, virgin and animal world represents a wide variety of tropical countries.

The Amazon forms a whole network of shipping routes. From the mouth to the Andean slopes, it stretches along a continuous navigable road and near Tabatinga reaches a depth of 13 meters, so that the largest ships can navigate it. For sailing ships, it is also quite convenient, since almost all year round upper trade winds blow. Most of the tributaries are navigable for several hundred kilometers. The total length of all waterways, along which Brazilian steamers sail, was in 1873 9,900 km. The mouth of the Amazon was discovered in 1500 by Vincent Pinzon, and its source in 1537 by the Spaniards. Pizarro's companion, Francis de Orellana (1540-41), was the first to travel along it, setting in motion the legend of the country of the Amazons and the golden land, or Eldorado. Of the travelers who subsequently took up the study of this river, remarkable in their research are Pedro Texeira (1637-39), the Jesuit pastor Samuel Fritz (“the apostle of A.R.”), Condamine (1743-44), Spix and Marcius (1820), Mau (1826), Peppit (1831-32), Prussian Prince Adalbert (1842), Count of Castelnau (1846); Particularly important in this respect are the expedition of Guerndon and Gibbon (1850-52), undertaken on behalf of the North American Union, and the scientific journey of Agassiz at the invitation of the Brazilian government.

Tributaries of the Amazon: major tributaries Amazons: on the right - Guallaga, Ucayali, Khavari, Hutagi, Hurua Teffe Aofi, Purus, Madeira, Tapaos, or Rio Preto, Xingu and Tocantin; on the left, Santiogo, Maroña, Pastaza, Napo, Putumayo, Yapura, Rio Negro with Cassikiare, Huatuma and Trombetas.

Inhabitants of the Amazon: The entire space, irrigated by the main stream and tributaries of the Rio Negro and Madeira, is divided into 4 different regions in terms of flora and fauna. The insect fauna is very rich, especially the ant one; , with the exception of monkeys, few. The Amazon is replete with aquatic plants and animals, caimans, dolphins, fish and very tasty turtles; the so-called “pira-ruku”, or red fish, is found in large numbers, reaching 2-2.5 m in length and 60-80 kilograms of weight; it is salted, dried and sold in whole batches in Para. In the Amazon there is a lot of manatee (sea cow), a genus of mammals, which is widely distributed here.

freezing of the amazon: does not freeze.

Amazon river broke many records. This is the most deep river in the world, it collects 40% of the waters of South America. The volume of water thrown off by the river into the ocean is so large that it is equal to 1/5 of the total volume of river water on the planet. Many of its tributaries are in themselves the greatest rivers in the world. Recently, the Amazon is also the longest river in the world. It has the widest river mouth in the world, it is 10 times wider than the English Channel. Not surprisingly, at the mouth of the Amazon is the world's largest river island the size of Scotland.

During the rainy season, it floods forests with an area equal to the territory of England. During the dry season, millions of fish are trapped in its lagoons, a paradise for predators. Lives in the river more species fish than in the entire Atlantic Ocean. It takes 4 hours to cross its tropical forests by plane.

Characteristics of the Amazon River

Length of the Amazon River: 6992 km

Watershed area: 7,180,000 km?. For comparison, the area of ​​Australia is 7,692,024 km².

River mode, food: The Amazon is fed by numerous tributaries, and due to the humid climate, the river receives a lot of water from precipitation. IN upstream important role playing snow food.

The Amazon mode is interesting and quite challenging. It is full of water all year round. The right and left tributaries of the river have different time floods. The fact is that the right tributaries are located in the Southern Hemisphere, and the left ones in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, floods are observed near the right tributaries from October to March (summer of the Southern Hemisphere), and near the left tributaries - from April to October (summer of the Northern Hemisphere). This leads to some smoothing of the runoff. Southern tributaries bring more water and in May-July lead to the maximum rise in water level. The minimum flow is observed in August - September. In the lower reaches, ocean tides also play an important role, spreading up the river for 1400 km. When the water rises, the river floods vast areas - this is the largest flood in the world. The width of the floodplain reaches 80-100 km.

Average water flow at the mouth: 220,000 m3/s. The maximum discharge during floods reaches 300,000 m3/s and even more. The minimum flow during the dry season is 70,000 m3/s. For comparison, the water flow in the Volga is 8060 m? / s i.e. almost 28 times less.

Where does it run: The Amazon flows mainly through Brazil, but small parts of the Amazon basin belong to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

The Amazon originates at an altitude of 5 thousand meters from the snow-capped peaks of the Peruvian Andes. Melt water, connecting with other streams, rushes down to the endless jungle. Except high altitude the mouth of the Amazon must also take into account the fact that it is located at the latitude of the Equator and therefore the climate is changeable here, during the day the hot sun weakens the ice grip and melt water descends. Connecting with each other tons of melted snow, form powerful streams and gain acceleration.

Soon descending to a height of 3.5 thousand meters, the Amazon falls into the kingdom moist forests. Here, waterfalls are often found on the river, and the current of the Amazon is still the same stormy, it has to make its way through mountain ranges. Descending from the Andes, the Amazon spills over a wide valley (the Amazonian lowland). Here it flows surrounded by tropical jungle.

The direction of the Amazon is predominantly from west to east, and it does not stray far from the equator. Interestingly, under the Amazon at a depth of 4 thousand meters, the underground river Hamza (Hamza) flows, it feeds on groundwater.

The main channel of the Amazon is navigable right up to the foot of the Andes, i.e. at a distance of 4300 km. Ocean-going ships can go up the river for a distance of 1690 km from the mouth, to the city of Manaus. The total length of all waterways in the Amazon Basin is 25,000 km.

After the confluence of the Xingu River, the Amazon is more like a sea. The width of the river reaches 15 km and it is no longer possible to see the opposite bank.

Here you can already feel the proximity of the Atlantic and you can observe the ebbs and flows. The riverbed is divided into many branches that flow into its huge delta. The mouth of the Amazon is the widest river mouth in the world. At the mouth of the Amazon there are thousands of islands, the largest of which has an area equal to that of Scotland. In this gigantic estuary, there is a constant struggle between salt and water. fresh water. The tides of the Atlantic Ocean make their way deep into the river, sweeping away everything in its path. This phenomenon is called the Amazon tidal wave or vice wave.

Flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon forms the world's largest delta with an area of ​​100,000 square kilometers. In this huge delta is the largest river island in the world, Marajo.

From its three hundred kilometer mouth, the river discharges more water into the ocean than all European rivers combined. From outer space its stream muddy waters distinguishable in the ocean for a hundred kilometers. from the shore.

The Amazon River at its mouth.

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 can be explained simply: it flows almost exactly along the equator, and the usual summer rainy season for these places alternately occurs either in the northern hemisphere (in March-September), on its left tributaries, or 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 in area.

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

Both sources begin in the Andes and break into 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 more than enough - 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, in 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 female 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 in the late 18th and early 19th centuries 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 inhabited by 2,000 species of fish - a third of the diversity of the freshwater fish kingdom of the Earth. (There are only 300 species in all the rivers of Europe.)

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

two meters electric eel, knocking a person down with a 300-volt current discharge, 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.

Found in the Amazon and huge manatees - relatives sea ​​cow, and river dolphins, and five-meter crocodiles are 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 is better big crocodile than three little 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 The Amazon is the richest in number of species of all the 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 has heard, of course, 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.

This is the longest tree on earth (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 silently sweep vampire bats. 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.

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 enough a large number of. 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. The total area of ​​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 long 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, tell about its inhabitants, about its features, in which countries it flows, where are the origins 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! Until we meet again! If you liked the article, please share with your friends.