AMAZON RIVER THE BIGGEST AND WORLD´S MIGHTIEST
Article that forms part of the book: "Peru: Land of Giants" Written by Julio E. Calderón Ramírez www.perucaltam.com.pe
This great river is born from a frozen fountain on the snow "Misti" at 5,328 m (Arequipa, Peru) within 160 km of the Pacific Ocean. It becomes the longest river, largest river, wider, deeper. Also drains the largest basin in the world to the Atlantic Ocean, covering a network of 80,000 Km waterways ranging from streams, where only about a boat, to highways where not seen the other side, by the extent of its dimension. The Amazon crosses, the largest rainforest of planet earth (Almost 60% of tropical forests, with 8 million hectares). The length of your great journey is 7,062 km thus also known as "The River Sea", and is therefore the longest rivers. It has a very prominent gap with respect to the beginning, which houses its upper reaches, where the height is about 5,000 meters long and 50 km in a straight line. In the middle and lower part, which covers from the city of Iquitos to its mouth barely reaching a height of only 4.5 cm per kilometer. From the snowy Mismi, its waters flow into streams Apacheta and Carhuasanta, to get enter the Amazon in the Apurimac River (tributary of the Ucayali River), which will join the Marañón to form the Amazon River – itself tell. Then its bed is introduced in Brazilian territory, where waters are obscured due to its conjunction with the Black River. There the waters are to discourse (both rivers together side by side without mixing) along six kilometers. 51% of the Amazon River travel is done through the territory of Peru. Cross South America from west to east, across 9 countries that share the Amazon River Basin Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, British Guiana and Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana was the one who originated the name of the great Amazon River to navigate its waters in 1542. Reportedly, he witnessed battles between tribes of warrior women, who made him remember the Amazons of ancient Greek mythology. Its name changed to enter Brazil, there is known as "Soliman." The first economic activities along the Amazon River, was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, subsequently led to the cultivation of rubber, which resulted in a fever as well as the quest for gold in the late nineteenth century.
The millions of inhabitants on the banks of the Amazon use this extraordinary natural waterway. On its banks, circulate ships of all sizes, from liners that travel upstream to 1,500 miles to Manaus (Brazil). There are also cargo ships and smaller vessels, which reach such remote locations as Iquitos, located 3,700 km from its mouth. The most commercial river section extends from Manaus to Belem (Atlantic). At the mouth of the Amazon River estuary occurs Pará, entry point to about 330 km wide. If you include the larger island of Marajo, located at the estuary of the Amazon River, then the total width of output is the total length of the River Thames (England). The enormous discharge "pushes" the sea, forming a layer of fresh water, which travels 200 km offshore in the Atlantic, this phenomenon will cause a loud, which is highly destructive to river water found off the tidal waves upward. The rapidity of freshwater discharge slows tide waters, rising sea level, on a huge wave, behaving like a wall against the river. This causes the change of direction in the flow of water, lots of shore ripping, uprooting trees and leaving a trail of destruction. These huge waves formed by the strength of the two opposing currents, reaching 4m height, whose roar of the crash is heard from afar. It's the sound of the violent tide of name "Pororoca". The Amazon discharge into the Atlantic Ocean from 200 to 220.000 m³ / s, I.e. between 15% and 20% of all freshwater entering the oceans around the globe. That is, only half a minute, quench the thirst of the world for a day: one liter for each of the 6,000 million inhabitants of the earth. It also downloads the Atlantic, nearly a billion tons of sediment. The South American Andes provide 13.5 tons of sediment per second. Its width is variable, leading to flood between 20 and 50 km on both sides. It has a depth between 50 and 80 meters. In its narrowest point, the town of Obidos (Para), comes close to 300 meters deep. The annual oscillation of the water level varies between 9 and 14 meters. The Amazon basin is the largest in the world (7'165, 281 Km ²), representing 1.4% of the earth's surface whose area exceeds that of Europe, excluding European and Russian territory comprising 40.18% of the area of South America. The Amazon River is a complex communication network, comparable to the circulation system of the human body, whose major artery, the aorta, it would be Amazon. This huge swarm hydrographic contains about 15,000 tributaries and more than 25,000 km of navigable stream.
In the forests of the Amazon, there are more than one third of all species in the world. It is estimated that this river, is home to about 3000 species of fish, many more than any other river system in the world. In the Amazon region of Peru, the largest fish inhabiting fresh water in the world: "Paiche" who can measure up to 3 m. and weigh 250 kilos. Also inhabited by two types of dolphins: the "pink dolphin or bufeo" in Peru, "Boto" in Brazil and the dolphin Tucuxi or "Bufeo black or gray". Also found the shark "Bull" or "Gayarre" 3.5 m long. In the Amazon also lives the famous "Piranha" small but carnivorous fish, but only few species of them attack humans, besides electric eels can produce electrical shock, stun or kill coming. An aquatic mammal also named: "manatee" weighing 350 to 500 kg. And reaches over 3m long, which is why the largest animal in the Amazon. The anaconda snake is found in the Amazon basin, it is the largest snake species in the world. The mighty Amazon feeds thousands of people on its shores. The life of its inhabitants along its banks and almost unexplored jungles inside - it was never easy. There they faced variety of diseases, insect bites and deadly snakes, apart from the long labor exploitation by companies established and traffic problems caused by drug and endemic poverty, produce life expectancy - in much of this vast region -, it is located in the 50 years for the normal population and native only 42. Thus the city landmark for opulent lived because of the exploitation of rubber boom, was represented by Manaus. There, even today it can see, the magnificent buildings built for the rubber business billionaires, the most important is the "Opera House" built in 1896. It is a lavish and eccentric whim came to cost ten million dollars in value at that time, besides the cost of human lives. There is a big problem of environmental pollution in this one lung of the planet: cough and choke, between fires, indiscriminate logging and toxic dumps, which are caused each year by deforestation of thousands of hectares. Who knows the Amazon knows that that prodigious source of life for the world, is both a relentless source of death. In 2001 the National Geographic Society, registered as the start of the Amazon River at Nevado Mismi, so they estimate that the Amazon River is 391 kilometers longer than the Nile River, whose length is 6.671 km. On August 13, 2012, the Amazon River officially received the award for "Natural Wonder of the World" under the title "Amazon River / Rainforest" by the International New 7 Wonders.