Amazon River

About Amazon River:

• It is the world's largest river by water volumeand width and the second-longest river in the world after the Nile.
• Course: Its journey begins high in the Andes Mountains and empties into the Atlantic Oceanon the northeastern coast of Brazil.
• River basin:
  • It has the largest drainage area of any river system.
  • Its watershed spans the countries of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Bolivia.
  • Roughly two-thirds of the Amazon’s main stream and by far the largest portion of its basin are within Brazil.
  • The river’s size changes with the seasons. In the dry season, it spans 4 to 5 km in width, but during the wet season, this can swell to 50 km. 
• Tributaries: Notable tributaries include the Rio Negro, the Madeira River, and the Xingu River, among many others.
• The Amazon Rainforest, which represents about half of the Earth’s remaining rainforest, also constitutes its single largest reserve of biological resources.
• It is sometimes referred to as the "lungs of the Earth" due to its role in regulating the planet's oxygen and carbon cycles.