Amazon River

The Amazon River (occasionally River Amazon; Spanish: Río Amazonas, Portuguese: Rio Amazonas) of South America is one of the two longest rivers on Earth, the other being the Nile in Africa. The Amazon has by far the greatest total flow of any river, carrying more than the Mississippi, Nile, and Yangtze rivers combined. Its drainage area, called the Amazon Basin, is the largest of any river system. The Amazon could be considered the "strongest" (largest volume of water per second).

Source and upper reaches

The ultimate source of the Amazon has only recently been firmly established as a stream on a 5,597 metre (18,363 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km S.E. of Lima. The mountain was first suggested as the source in 1971 but this was not confirmed until 2001. The waters from Nevado Mismi flow into the Río Apurímac which is a tributary of the Ucayali which later joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper.

Related Topics:
Nevado Mismi - Andes - Titicaca - Lima - 1971 - 2001 - Río Apurímac - Ucayali - Marañón

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Below its confluence with the Huallaga, the river leaves Andean terrain and is instead surrounded by flood plain. From this point to the Ucayali, some 2,400 km (1,500 mi), the forested banks are just out of water, and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood-line. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon Rainforest.

Related Topics:
Huallaga - Flood plain - Ucayali - Amazon Rainforest

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