25 Amazing and Unknown Facts about Amazon River | Amazing Facts 4U
- The length of the Amazon River is approximately 6400 kilometers (4000 miles). It is the second-largest river in this world in terms of length the first being Nile. However, the latest measurements suggest that it could be as long as the Nile river or even longer.
- Going back in history, the Amazon River originated as a transcontinental river somewhere between 11.8 million and 11.3 million years back in the Miocene Epoch. The river took its current shape some 2.4 million years back.
- Its westernmost source is high in the Andes Mountains, within 100 miles (160 km) of the Pacific Ocean, and its mouth is in the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeastern coast of Brazil.
- The Amazon River surrounds the entire Amazon Rainforest and covers territories belonging to French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil.
- It flows along the Amazon tropical rainforest, home to more than 800,000 species having to support and nurturing the richest biodiversity in the world.
- The forest covers an area of 5,400,000 square kilometers or 2,100,000 square miles.
- In terms of the amount of water discharged, Amazon is the largest river in this world. It discharges 7,831,000 cubic feet or 209,000 cubic meters every second.
- The total discharge by Amazon River alone is greater than the total discharge of the 7 next largest rivers of the world taken together!
- The flood-stage discharge at the river’s mouth is four times that of the Congo and more than ten times the amount carried by the Mississippi River.
- Of the total river flow of the world, approximately 1/5th is accounted for by the Amazon basin spanning over 7,050,000 square kilometers or 2,720,000 square miles, making Amazon the largest drainage basin in the entire world.
- During dry seasons, the width of Amazon ranges between 1.6 and 10 kilometers but during the wet seasons, the river’s width increases to 60 kilometers.
- The Amazon River enters the Atlantic Ocean through a broad estuary that has a width of 150 miles or 240 kilometers with the main stem mouth spanning over 80 kilometers width. Because of its immense width, the estuary is often referred to as ‘The River Sea’.
- There are no bridges that cross the Amazon, mostly because there is no need, the majority of the Amazon River runs through rainforests rather than roads or cities.
- The largest city along the Amazon River is Manaus which is located in Brazil having a population of over 1.7 million people.
- The Amazon River is known by several names in different countries. In Brazil, above its confluence with Rio Negro, the river is known by the name Solimões.
- In Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru as well as other Spanish-speaking countries, the river is known as Amazon downstream from Ucayali and Marañón rivers confluence in Peru.
- Amazon’s primary source is the Ucayali-Apurímac river system with the main headstream being Carhuasanta glacial stream that flows off Nevado Mismi Mountain.
- 20% of Earth’s freshwater that enters the oceans comes from Amazon. The freshwater that enters the Atlantic from the Amazon River flows on top of the seawater because freshwater is lighter. This freshwater dilutes the salinity of the seawater and changes the color of the ocean surface. This color change spans over 1,000,000 square miles.
- More than 3000 species of fish have been identified so far in the Amazon basin and more are being discovered every year. The famed anaconda can be found in the basin’s shallow waters.
- Amazon manatee, boto (Amazon river dolphin), tucuxi (another species of dolphin), various species of notorious piranhas, electric eels, giant otter and black caiman are some of the most commonly found creatures of Amazon.
- The river is also known for supporting turtles, algae, and crabs. The microbes that are generally found in the Amazon River are Crenarchaeota, Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria.
- Amazon dumps directly into the turbulent Atlantic. Because of the high tidal energy and the strong waves, sediments from Amazon flow out into the open ocean and thus, Amazon never really forms a true delta.
- Amazon has over 1,100 tributaries. Out of these, 17 are 1,500 kilometers long. The longest, Madeira River exceeds 2,000 miles (3,200 km). In terms of volume, The Negro River is the largest of all the Amazon tributaries accounting for about one-fifth of the total discharge.
- The largest oceangoing ships can ascend the river 1,000 miles to the city of Manaus, Braz., while lesser freight and passenger vessels can reach Iquitos, Peru, 1,300 miles (2,090 km) farther upstream, at any time of year.
- The Amazon floods every year because of the tidal wave known as ‘pororoca’. It occurs at high tide during late winter when the river is overlapped by the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in 4 meter high waves, traveling 13 kilometers inland. Not all tributaries flood at the same time of the year.
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