Amazon River of South America is the second longest river in the world with a length of 6,400 km. But it is by far the largest river by water flow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined. It flows through Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Guyana.
Its westernmost source is high in the Andes Mountains, within 100 miles (160 km) of the Pacific Ocean, and its mouth is in the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. However, both the length of the Amazon and its ultimate source have been subjects of debate since the mid-20th century, and there are those who claim that the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile.
The first European to explore the Amazon, in 1541, was the Spanish soldier Francisco de Orellana, who gave the river its name after reporting pitched battles with tribes of female warriors, whom he likened to the Amazons of Greek mythology. Although the name Amazon is conventionally employed for the entire river, in Peruvian and Brazilian nomenclature it properly is applied only to sections of it. In Peru the upper main stream (fed by numerous tributaries flowing from sources in the Andes) down to the confluence with the Ucayali River is called Maranon, and from there to the Brazilian border it is called Amazonas. In Brazil the name of the river that flows from Peru to its confluence with the Negro River is Solimoes; from the Negro out to the Atlantic the river is called Amazonas.
Credit : Britannica
Picture Credit : Google
