8 Incredible Facts about The Amazon River

The Amazon River is located in South America. It has an area of about 2.7 million square miles and is one of the most complex ecosystems in the world.

The Amazon River is the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin.

It spans about two-fifth of the entire continent and is called The River Sea sometimes.

See more facts about The Amazon River:

• The Amazon River is the largest volume of Freshwater of any river in the world. The river releases about 200,000 liters of Freshwater into the ocean every second, accounting for closely one-fifth or 20% of all river water that enters the sea.

• The Amazon River is the longest in the world after the Nile River. It is a little below 132 miles from the Nile River. After the Amazon River, the next longest river is the Yangtze river which is about 85 miles shorter than the Amazon.

• The Amazon River homes the Amazon River Dolphin (pink river Dolphin). One of the only four species of River Dolphins. The Amazon dolphin is estimated to have lived over 18 million years ago.

• The Amazon River houses the Dorado catfish, one of the 6 species of “Goliath” catfish found in the Amazon river. The Dorado catfish grow to be over 6 ft long.

• The Amazon River crosses four countries- Brazil, Columbia, Peru, and Venezuela. Though Brazil holds the largest portion of the River.

• As large as the Amazon River is, it has no bridges. This is as a result of its inconsistency in season. In the Amazon River bed. During the rainy season, the Amazon River rises over 30ft. So, for any bridge to cross the Amazon River, it would need to be incredibly long to get sure footing.

• Amazon River got its name from Greek mythology, named by the first European explorer to get to the area, Fransisco de Orellana. After speaking of a pitched battle with tribes of female warriors whom he compared to the Amazons of Greek mythology.

• The Amazon Rainforest is the largest in the world and has great ecological significance. It has extraordinary biodiversity with millions of insects. One of the world’s species of birds cam is found on the Amazon Rainforest.