Pole amazon south river. Where is the world's longest river Amazon? Description and photo

Peru, Amazon River, Peru

basic information

The most famous river on the planet is undoubtedly the Amazon. The longest in the world, with a length of 6,437 kilometers, the river basin contains 25% fresh water on the planet. The Amazon originates high in the Andes, and stretches across five states: Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. Its streams are so great that it changes the color and composition of the Atlantic Ocean at a distance of 300 kilometers from its mouth. It is undoubtedly the greatest river in the world.

The Amazon got its name from the myth of ancient women warriors. In 1542, when the Spanish colonialists seized territories along the banks of the river, in an attempt to protect their homes, men and women of Indian tribes fought on equal terms. The fearless warriors impressed the colonialists so much that they named the river in honor of the brave women of the Amazons.

The flora and fauna of the river is also impressive, on its territory there are more than one million of the most different plants and animals, but to date, only about a third have been studied. Here you can see a rare pink dolphin, dangerous piranhas and anacondas. It is also worth noting that she is rich and medicinal herbs: A quarter of the medicinal substances used in medicine are located in the Amazon. There is no such ecosystem anywhere else on the planet.

The closest city of Peru, on the shores of the Amazon, is Iquitos. You can only get to it from the plane. Travel time is about 2 hours.

On the territory of the Amazon, both extreme tours and interesting cruises are held.

Excursion companies

Amazon Explorama Lodges

Address: Av. La Marina # 340 Amazon River Iquitos, Peru
Phone: + (51 6) 525 25 30
www.explorama.com

Amazon Jungle Tours

Address: Bajada Balta 131, Oficina 4 Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru
Phone: + (51 1) 241 75 76
www.paseosamazonicos.com

Manu Expeditions Company

Address: Jirón Los Geranios 2-G Urbanización Mariscal Gamarra 1ro Etapa, Cusco, Peru
Phone: + (51 8) 422 41 35
www.manuexpeditions.com

Kuoda Travel Company

Address: Marcavalle N 25, Cusco, Peru
Phone: + (51 8) 422 17 73
www.kuodatravel.com

The cost of a weekly tour of the Amazon is about 3000 soles.

Amazon river has broken many records. This is the deepest river in the world, it collects 40% of the water South America... The volume of water thrown off by the river into the ocean is so great that it is equal to 1/5 of the total volume of river water on the planet. Many of its tributaries are in themselves the greatest rivers in the world. More recently, the Amazon is also the longest river in the world. It has the widest river mouth in the world, it is 10 times wider than the English Channel. Not surprisingly, at the mouth of the Amazon lies the world's largest river island the size of Scotland.

During the rainy season, it floods forests equal to that of England. During the dry season, millions of fish are trapped in its lagoons, a paradise for predators. Lives in the river more types fish than in the entire Atlantic Ocean. To cross it rainforests on the plane you need to spend 4 hours.

Characteristics of the Amazon River

Length of the Amazon River: 6992 km

Drainage basin area: 7,180,000 km? For comparison, the area of ​​Australia is 7 692 024 km2.

River mode, food: The Amazon is powered by numerous tributaries, also due to humid climate the river receives a lot of water from precipitation. Upstream important role plays snow food.

Amazon mode is interesting and quite challenging. It is quite full throughout the year. The right and left tributaries of the river have different time floods. The fact is that the right tributaries are located in the Southern Hemisphere, and the left ones are in the Northern. Therefore, at the right tributaries, floods are observed from October to March (summer Southern hemisphere), on the left - from April to October (summer of the Northern Hemisphere). This leads to some smoothing of the flow. The southern tributaries bring more water and in May - July lead to maximum water level rises. The minimum runoff is observed in August - September. In the lower reaches, ocean tides also play an important role, extending up the river for 1400 km. When the water rises, the river floods a gigantic area; this is the largest flood in the world. The width of the floodplain reaches 80-100 km.

Average water discharge at the mouth: 220,000 m3 / s. The maximum flow during floods reaches 300,000 m3 / s and even more. The minimum flow rate during the dry season is 70,000 m3 / s. For comparison, the water consumption in the Volga is 8060 m? / S i.e. almost 28 times less.

Where it proceeds: The Amazon flows primarily through Brazil, but small parts of the Amazon Basin belong to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

The Amazon originates at an altitude of 5,000 meters from the snow-capped peaks of the Peruvian Andes. Melt water, connecting with other streams, rushes down to the endless jungle. except great height the mouth of the Amazon must also be taken into account that it is located at the latitude of the Equator and therefore the climate here is changeable, during the day the hot sun weakens the ice grip and the melt water goes down. Connecting together tons of melted snow, form powerful streams and gaining acceleration.

Soon descending to a height of 3.5 thousand meters, the Amazon enters the kingdom wet forests... Here waterfalls are often found on the river, and the current of the Amazon is still stormy, it has to make its way through the mountain ranges. Descending from the Andes, the Amazon spills over a wide valley (Amazonian lowland). Here it flows surrounded by the tropical jungle.

The direction of the current of the Amazon is predominantly from west to east, and it does not depart far from the equator. It is interesting that under the Amazon at a depth of 4 thousand meters, flows underground river Hamza (Hamza), it feeds on groundwater.

The main channel of the Amazon is navigable all the way to the foot of the Andes, i.e. at a distance of 4300 km. Ocean vessels can climb up the river at a distance of 1690 km from the mouth, to the city of Manaus. Total length of all waterways in the Amazon Basin is 25,000 km.

After the confluence of the Xingu River, the Amazon looks more like a sea. The width of the river reaches 15 km and it is already impossible to see the opposite bank.

Here you can already feel the closeness of the Atlantic and you can observe the ebb and flow. The river bed is divided into many branches that flow into its huge delta. The Amazon Estuary is the widest estuary in the world. There are thousands of islands at the mouth of the Amazon, the largest of which has an area equal to the area of ​​Scotland. In this gigantic estuary, there is a constant struggle between salt and fresh water. The tides of the Atlantic Ocean make their way deep into the river, sweeping away everything in its path. This phenomenon is called the Amazon tidal wave or vice wave.

Flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon forms the world's largest delta with an area of ​​100,000 square kilometers. This huge delta is home to the world's largest river island, Marajo.

From its three hundred kilometer mouth, the river releases more water into the ocean than anything European rivers taken together. From space, the flow of its murky waters is discernible in the ocean a hundred kilometers away. from the coast.

The Amazon River at the mouth.

The Amazon River flows through South America, originating in the Peruvian Andes and pouring its waters on Brazilian territory into the Atlantic Ocean. Judging by various sources, its length ranges from 6259 to 6800 km. Together with its tributaries, this river supplies the population of the planet with 20% of the available fresh water. Of the twenty longest rivers, half belong to the Amazon basin.

Source coordinates - 4 ° 26'25 ″ S. NS. 73 ° 26′50 ″ W d., and the mouth - 0 ° 35'35 ″ S. NS. 49 ° 57'22 ″ W etc.

What the object is known for

The first European to cross the Amazon was the conquistador de Orellana. This happened in 1542, when his squad seemingly met the legendary tribe of Amazons who attacked them.

Now it is generally accepted that they were Indian women who fought along with men, although it is not excluded that the Europeans mistook warriors for beautiful ladies, wearing long hair... Be that as it may, but the conquistador, who wants to first name own name this river, as a result of the battle, changed his mind, so it got its present name - "Amazon".

The river is deservedly proud of its extraordinary flora and fauna. Only here do many really grow unique plants, and not all of them have been studied, since according to scientists, the flora of the Amazon has been examined only by a third.

The local fauna also attracts followed attention. Suffice it to name only the water boa, which is better known to many under the name of the anaconda or merciless piranhas.

Important: a twenty-meter anaconda can easily swallow a jaguar, not to mention such a "trifle" as a person.

From time immemorial in the Amazon there are three-meter araipama fish, the weight of which reaches one and a half centners. Previously, there were also larger individuals, but poachers tried to exterminate these rarities, so now they are much less common. The Amazon is also home to the largest river dolphin, the pink one. Aboriginal people call it bouto. For marine life the length of 2.5 meters is not surprising, but among the river brothers, the pink dolphin is a real giant.

The main water area of ​​the Amazon is located in Brazil. This country has the largest river port - Manaus, which is also the capital of the state. Many people come here to feel like pioneers:

• here you can see the natives live;
• visit the jungle;
• enjoy the spectacle of the Rio Negro flowing into the Amazon.

Travelers during excursions experience a culture shock: they are amazed by the neighborhood of a huge metropolis, in which there is a bright and active night life with poor and sloppy docks. The "rubber boom" of the last century left the city a legacy of a magnificent opera theater built in the neoclassical style. World celebrities have previously performed in it.

An extraordinary wonder of the Amazon Basin is the largest island of Marajo. Its area is 40 thousand kilometers, and only a quarter of a million people live on it.

Important: this amazing island, according to historians, can be considered the hearth of an ancient civilization.

It was on the island that a huge state was previously freely located, the territory of which is comparable to that of Holland. Now Marajo makes a profit only from serving tourists who come here to witness the wonders of the majestic Amazon with their own eyes.

1. The Amazon is known for its bloodthirsty piranhas. The weight of the fish does not exceed one kilogram, but they are very dangerous and bloodthirsty. Main feature is their toothy jaw and hunting in large flocks.

2. The Amazonian forests are the oldest in the world. Until now, scientists are engaged in heated discussions about how old the Amazonian forests are. Researchers say they are over 100 million years old.

3. A bridge was built across the Amazon tributary, the Rio Negru, in 2010, connecting the port of Manaus and the city of Iranduba. The bridge is over 3.5 km long. This bridge is the only one on the river. At the same time, before that, there were no bridges across the river at all.

4. Brazilian scientists in 2011 stunned the world with the discovery: another underground river flows under the Amazon basin. Its bed is located at a depth of about 4 kilometers, it almost exactly copies the ground older sister, however, has high salinity and low current velocity. Unofficial name rivers - Hamza.

5. A small child can be easily seated on the giant Amazonian Victoria leaf. The leaf diameter is over 2 meters, so the child will not drown. The sheet can support a weight of 30-50 kg. Amazonian Victoria blooms only at night once a year, blooming snow-white flowers, at dawn they hide under the water.

Major attractions

Along the Amazon River, there are many settlements and cities that are completely cut off from the civilized world. They can often only be reached by boat or motorcycle through the jungle. For example, the city of Iquitos has 500,000 inhabitants and is located in the middle of the jungle. Local residents do not know any other means of transport apart from boats and three-wheeled motorcycles.

Many houses near the river are built on high wooden stilts so that during the period when the Amazon floods, the house is not flooded. For many residents, the boat is the only means of transportation.

The Amazon is the longest river in the world after the Nile. The river has over 200 tributaries, 100 of them are navigable. 17 flows into the Amazon large rivers with a length of 1500-3500 km, in total all these rivers form a water area equal to 7,337,000 km2. The Amazon is the largest in the world in terms of the size of the basin, as well as the length of the river system and the flow of water. Together with its tributaries, the river forms a system of inland waterways with a total length of over 25 thousand km.

Geography

The Amazon is a river that flows through South America. The main part of the Amazon basin belongs to Brazil, the western and southwestern regions - Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

The coordinates of the source of the Amazon are as follows - 73 degrees west longitude, 5 degrees south latitude.

The coordinates of the mouth of the Amazon are as follows - 0 degrees latitude, as well as 50 degrees west longitude.

The Amazon originates in Peru from Lake Lavrichoja - northeast of the city of Lima, 230 km on the Bombon Upland, which stretches between the Eastern and Western Cordilleras. At first, it flows in meanders through a 220 km narrow mountain valley, forming a series of rapids and waterfalls. Only after 700 km of stretch at Hen de Bracamoras, the river becomes navigable. Then it turns in an arc of 250 km to the east and northeast and cuts through the Cordillera with its 13 streams.

Near Rentema, the Amazon flows on a height of 378 m, where its width reaches 1,600 m, then after running a space of 950 km through the Andes, it enters the wooded plain of South America, where it no longer presents obstacles to navigation. Further, it continues along the lowlands of Brazil and Peru for 3,650 km, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean under the equator. The total length of the river is approximately 5,000 km.

The Amazon Basin, where the most significant woodlands on our planet, are shared by Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. These vast expanses feed numerous tributaries of the Amazon along its entire length through rain jungle from the Andean heights to Atlantic coast... Such a significant part of the continent can be surveyed with a single gaze only from space.

About 1,100 large and small tributaries hide their channels under the cover of the tropical jungle, crossing from the highlands and covering the Amazon basin with a dense network along its entire route. Of the many tributaries of the Amazon, 17 have a length of more than 1,500 km. Together with the Amazon, they carry about 20% of the total fresh water on the planet. Since the area itself is relatively flat, the rivers flowing through it are rather shallow. On average, the riverbed of the Amazon decreases by 5 mm for every kilometer - that is, no more than water in the most ordinary bath! Most of the time, from 100,000 to 200,000 cubic meters are discharged into the Atlantic Ocean. m of fresh water depending on seasonal changes.

Majority large tributaries The Amazons get their names from the color of the water. For example, the water in Rio Negro looks black, while in Madeira it is golden-scarlet, reminiscent of the wine of the same name. Near Manaus in Brazil, the Rio Negru merges with the yellow, turbid waters Solimoes, rushing from the slopes of the Andes. Two rivers, falling into one bed, behave for a long time as two immiscible liquids, and only after 80 km the yellow water of Solimoes takes over.

The headwaters of the Solimoes, discovered only in 1971, are similar to the headwaters of all rivers in this system. They are located in the mountains in Peru and Ecuador and flow northwestward to Brazil. On this route, the river has time to change its name six times, and its name is Solimoins in the middle reaches. Only on the last, relatively straight section, which is about one third of the total length, the river is called the Amazon.

The length of the Amazon is 6275 km, it is the longest river in the world, which has absorbed many smaller rivers. In high water seasons, about 280,000 cubic meters of water flows through its bed. m of water per second. It is so deep that even ocean liners can safely rise 3,700 km from its mouth. Thanks to this, they get to almost all corners of the northern part of the continent, right up to the Peruvian city of Iquitos, located in the heart of the rain jungle, where the railway has not yet reached further.

Facts

• Location: The territory of the Amazon Basin, which contains the most significant forests on our planet, is divided among themselves by Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.
• Area: Its area is 6.5 million square meters. km, which is 5% of the entire surface of the earth's land.
• Length: Amazon gets its name from the most big river... The Amazon, which has a length of 6275 km, a width of 5-12 km and a depth of 30-100 m.

The Amazon River is the most aquiferous river in the world, carrying a fifth of the world's fresh water to the ocean. The flow of water is so huge that, pouring out into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon changes the salt composition and color of the ocean for 320 kilometers. In all respects, this is the greatest, one of the longest rivers in the world. The river is located in the north of South America, starting from the Andes in Peru, and ends in the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. The length of the Amazon ranges from 6259 to 6800 km according to various sources. In this article, you will learn about the set interesting facts and admire photographs of a real miracle of nature.

The Amazon is a huge system of rivers and forests that crosses half of Brazil and stretches into neighboring states. The Amazon River is the largest in the world in terms of basin size (7.2 million km2) and water content. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers - Marañon and Ucayali. The length of Marañon from the source is 6400 km, Ucayali is over 7000 km. The Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean, forming the world's largest inland delta (over 100 thousand km2) and funnel-shaped mouths - arms that cover the huge island of Marajo.

They say that the Amazon got its name thanks to the Spanish conquistadors, who, fighting on the banks of the great river with the Indians, were struck by the fearless fury of Indian women who fought on an equal basis with men. Brave and strong warriors reminded the Spaniards of the ancient myth of the Amazons - and thanks to them the river got its name.

During the dry season, the Amazon River reaches a width of 11 kilometers, covering 110 thousand square meters of water. km, and in the rainy season it triples, covering 350 thousand square meters. km and overflowing for 40 km or more. Another achievement of the Amazon is the mouth of the river, the largest delta in the world, with a width of 325 km. The river is navigable two-thirds of its length from the Atlantic Ocean.

In the small town of Belene at the mouth of the Amazon, large waves of water 4–5 m high roll up the river with a terrible roar during high ocean tides. Their strength is felt at a distance of 1400 km from the mouth. Downstream, after the confluence of the Shingu tributary.

The Amazon is 80 km wide, and its depth at Obidus is 135 m (approximately the average depth Baltic Sea). The Amazon provides about 15% of the total annual flow of all rivers the globe... Together with its tributaries, it forms a gigantic water system with a length of more than 25 thousand km. The main channel of the Amazon is navigable for 4,300 km, and ocean-going vessels climb 1,690 km from the estuary to Manaus.

It is home to flora only 30% studied by scientists. 25% of all medicinal substances in the world that are used in medicine are extracted from the plants of the Amazonian forest. 1800 bird species, 250 different mammals, 1500 different types fish - all this makes up the flora and fauna of the Amazon. The Amazon River and its tributaries make up 20% of all fresh water in the world. Of the 20 longest rivers in the world, 10 are in the Amazon basin. It is inhabited by pink dolphins and bullfish, the length of which reaches 4 meters and weighs more than 500 kg. The famous predator, the piranha fish, is also an inhabitant of these places.
Pink River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), is a freshwater river dolphin, local to Orinoco, Amazon and River systems Araguaia / Tocantins of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela The Amazon River Dolphin's neck spine is not fused together and is therefore able to bend his neck at 90 degree angles to his body, and skillfully hunt fish in the flooded forest.

And here is the piranha that lives in the waters of the Amazon River

The Amazon's high water can be easily explained: it flows almost exactly along the equator, and the usual summer rainy season for these places alternately occurs in the northern hemisphere in March-September), on its left tributaries, then in the southern (from October to April), on the right tributaries ... Great river actually lives in conditions of constant flood.

So, is this Great Amazon River the longest river on our planet? The Brazilian National Space Research Center (INPE) claims the Amazon is the longest river in the world. Center experts have studied the flowing in the north of the South American continent water artery using satellite data. In their calculations, they were based on the results of the expedition carried out last year by scientists from Brazil and Peru. Then the researchers reached the source of the Amazon, located in the Peruvian Andes, at an altitude of 5 thousand meters. They unraveled one of the greatest geographic mysteries, finding the birthplace of a river that crosses Peru, Colombia and Brazil before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. This point is located in the mountains in the south of Peru, and not in the north of the country, as previously thought. At the same time, scientists installed several satellite beacons, which greatly facilitated the task for experts from INPE. Now, according to the National Center for Space Research, the length of the Amazon is 6992.06 km, while the Nile flowing in Africa is 140 km shorter (6852.15 km). So this makes the South American river not only the deepest, but also the longest in the world, ITAR-TASS notes. Until that moment, the Amazon was officially recognized as the deepest river, but it was always considered the second longest after the Nile (Egypt). The Amazon basin is on the list of the most