Amazon. Millions of liters of water per second

The tributaries of the Amazon are located in different climatic zones, where there are rainy seasons at different times. As a result, the river always carries huge volumes of water, the highest level is in May and June.

From the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean

The Amazon flows from the Peruvian Andes. Today, scientists believe that it begins with Apacheta - the source of the Ucayali River. At first it winds along narrow mountain valleys to the northwest, forming numerous cascades. Why turns east and flows through the Amazon rainforest. It flows right to the very mouth of the river near the equator, not exceeding the latitude of five degrees. In both the Andes and the Amazonian lowland, it draws water from thousands of tributaries. The river has never been regulated, so it often changes course, making its way through the impenetrable jungle.

River basin and tributaries

The Amazon and its tributaries are easy to spot on any map of South America. The basin area is 7,200,000 square kilometers, which is almost half of the entire continent. The river has more than a thousand tributaries, some more than 1500 kilometers long, that is, they are longer than the Rhine (the longest river in Western Europe). It is thanks to these tributaries that the Amazon bears such impressive descendants of water.

Amazon cities

The river is a convenient transport route, and the largest cities in the region have sprung up on its banks. The most important of these are Manaus in Brazil and Iquitos in Peru. Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas and the main port. Founded in 1660 by the Portuguese, the city really flourished in the 20th century thanks to the production of rubber. And Iquitos cannot be reached by land. Contact with the outside world takes place only through the airport and the Amazon River.

Transport system of the Amazon

The Amazon is the main artery of the region. Large ships sail to Manaus, and small ships sail to Iquitos. To facilitate transport links in the 1970s, the Brazilian authorities built a highway in the Amazon region - Transamazonica. About 5,100 kilometers long, it stretches from Recife on the Atlantic coast to Cruzeirudo Sul on the border with Peru.

Inhabitants of the Amazonian jungle

The Amazon region makes up almost half of Brazil's territory, but only 8% of the country's population lives here. The indigenous Indian population is about 500 thousand people, which is 36 times less than at the beginning of the 16th century, when the Portuguese arrived here. This is one of the rare places on Earth where tribes live that are not in contact with civilization.

Parrots, jaguars and anacondas

The Amazon region has a huge variety of animals - about 10% of all species in the world: approximately 2.5 million species of insects, 1,300 species of birds, 420 species of mammals. Inhabitants of tropical forests - jaguars and cougars, capybaras, river dolphins, crocodiles, leatherback turtles and numerous species of snakes, including the most powerful one - anaconda.

Vegetable abundance

The Amazonian forests are much richer in terms of vegetation than the African and Asian jungles. It is also the largest forest area in the world, covering 5,500,000 square kilometers. Valuable species of trees grow here, for example, rubber and red. More than 200,000 plant species can grow in an area of ​​the Amazonian forest with an area of ​​only 1 square kilometer, many of them have not yet been discovered and registered.

Amazon facts

• The dark waters of the Rio Negro are acidic, so there are no mosquitoes... In the city of Manaus, the river joins the Amazon, and its waters are colored in tones of coffee.

• During the rainy season, the water level rises by 9 meters

• The Amazon contains about 20% of the world's water reserves and carries 11 times more water than the Mississippi. In a day, she pours as much water into the ocean as the Thames (England) - in a year.

Olga

Peruvian cuisine of the Amazonas department