Amazon River

Satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon river
The basin of the Amazon, with the most important rivers. The Tocantins River is also part of that basin, even if it is not tributary to the Amazon

The Amazon River (also called Rio Amazonas in Portuguese and Spanish[1]) is the largest river in the world by the amount or volume of water it carries. It flows through the tropical forests of South America, mainly in Brazil. Its headwaters are in the Andes Mountains in Peru, on the western edge of South America and flows eastward into the Atlantic Ocean near the equator.

The Amazon River moves more water than the next eight largest rivers of the world combined and has the largest drainage basin in the world. It accounts for about one fifth of the world's total river flow. During the wet season, parts of the Amazon exceed 120 miles (190 km) in width. Because of its size, it is sometimes called The Sea, but it is not the world's longest river system. The world's longest river is the Nile River, with the Amazon being second-longest.

  1. "Amazon River". Encyclopedia Britannica.

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