Definition of Amazon River

The world’s second longest river, stretching

3,900 miles (6,275 km) from the foothills of the Andes to the

Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon begins where the Ucayali and

Maranon tributaries merge and drains into the Atlantic near

the city of Belem. The Amazon carries the most water and

has the largest discharge of any river in the world, averaging

150 feet (45 m) deep. Its drainage basin amounts to about 35

percent of South America, covering 2,500,000 square miles

(6,475,000 km2). The Amazon lowlands in Brazil include the

largest tropical rainforest in the world. In this region, the

Amazon is a muddy, silt-rich river with many channels that

wind around numerous islands in a complex maze. The delta

region of the Amazon is marked by numerous fluvial islands

and distributaries, as the muddy waters of the river get dispersed

by strong currents and waves into the Atlantic. A

strong tidal bore, up to 12 feet (3.7 m) high runs up to 500

miles (800 km) upstream.

The Amazon River basin occupies a sediment-filled rift

basin, between the Precambrian crystalline basement of the

Brazil and Guiana Shields. The area hosts economic deposits

of gold, manganese, and other metals in the highlands, and

detrital gold in lower elevations. Much of the region’s economy

relies on the lumber industry, with timber, rubber, vegetable

oils, Brazil nuts, and medicinal plants sold worldwide.

Spanish commander Vincent Pinzon was probably the

first European in 1500 to explore the lower part of the river

basin, followed by the Spanish explorer Franciso de Orellana

in 1540–41. De Orellana’s tales of tall strong female warriors

gave the river its name, borrowing from Greek mythology.

Further exploration by Pedro Teixeira, Charles Darwin, and

Louis Agassiz led to greater understanding of the river’s

course, peoples, and environment, and settlements did not

appear until steamship service began in the middle 1800s.

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