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Iquitos Travel Guide
- Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon River, if not the largest is one of
the largest rivers on the planet; specialists
have not agree on this yet. Its length, for some
measured from its source, a small ice-melt
stream in snow-capped Mount Mismi (Arequipa -
south of Peru) is 4170 miles, surpasses the
length of the Nile. But there is absolutely no
doubt that the Amazon carries the most volume of
water, pouring into the Atlantic Ocean between
6.3-10.5 million cubic feet per second depending
on the season, more than the combine discharge
of the Mississippi, Nile and Yangtze Rivers.
The Amazon Basin has a 1-million sq. miles
draining area, which represents 10% of South
America’s surface; at least 500 of its thousands
of tributaries are navigable, its main course
flowing through the largest tropical rainforest
on the planet. It accounts approximately 3000
fish species, many of these representing the
most important food source for the Amazon
people.
Most of its length it follows a winding way
through the jungle, thus creating a channel web
with numerous islands. The Amazon's average
depth is 150 feet and its width varies between 1
and 2 miles. Some medium-size sea cruiser can
reach Iquitos,
located some 60 miles from the main headwaters
–Ucayali and Marañon- that give birth to the
Amazon itself.
The name Amazon comes from "river of the
Amazons", name that was given by Francisco De
Orellana in 1542 after battling an indigenous
tribe apparently composed of female warriors
like in the Greek myth.
See also:
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