Coming a close second after the Nile as the world’s longest river, the Amazon River sets the record in terms of the sheer volume of water that it carries – a mind-boggling average discharge of 219,000 m3/sec of water.2
It is estimated that approximately one-sixth of all fresh water that drains into the world's oceans goes through the 320-km-wide delt of the Amazon, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean.
As the seasons change, so does the river. During the dry season, the width of the Amazon River can be 4 km to 5 km in places – and in the wet season, this can increase to 50 km! At the height of the wet season, the current can reach a speed of 7 km/hr.
Major roles of the Amazon River
As the drainage system of the Amazon Basin, the Amazon River and its approximately 1,100 tributaries play major roles in the ecology of the basin.
Before roads and airstrips started appearing in the basin, these waterways were the major access routes to the interior areas of Brazil and the northern half of South America.
For example, the only way you can get to Iquitos, Peru, which is right on the Amazon River, is to board a plane or a boat. There are no roads to get there.3
Origins and course of the river
The Amazon River has its source high in the Peruvian Andes, at an elevation of 5,598 m. There, at a mere 192 km from the Pacific Ocean where it once flowed into, the Amazon River begins as a small tributary called the Carhuasanta.
As it heads east, it flows into and becomes the Hornillos, which merges into the Apurimac, a major tributary that eventually joins the Ene, the Tambo and then the Ucayali.4
The ecosystems of the Danube River Basin are highly valuable in environmental, economic, historical and social terms, but they are subject to increasing pressure and serious pollution from agriculture, industry and cities.
The river flows (from upstream to downstream) through 11 countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia and the Ukraine. Additional basin countries are Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia‑Herzegovina and FYR of Macedonia.
The Danube is one of Europe’s richest rivers with regard to fish species with seven fish species found nowhere else in the world, 10 diadramous fish including five sturgeon species, and altogether 103 fish species. The basin has 90 freshwater molluscs and over 30 amphibian species.
Current threats
The past years there have been an increasing human impacts, pressure and serious pollution from agriculture, industry and municipalities affect the water supply for communities, tourism and fishing.
Examples of threats are: new infrastructure for shipping, eight proposed large dams (including hydropower), diffuse pollution (use of pesticides), gravel extraction/dredging, flood protection and invasive species.
The river flows (from upstream to downstream) through 11 countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia and the Ukraine. Additional basin countries are Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia‑Herzegovina and FYR of Macedonia.
The Danube is one of Europe’s richest rivers with regard to fish species with seven fish species found nowhere else in the world, 10 diadramous fish including five sturgeon species, and altogether 103 fish species. The basin has 90 freshwater molluscs and over 30 amphibian species.
Current threats
The past years there have been an increasing human impacts, pressure and serious pollution from agriculture, industry and municipalities affect the water supply for communities, tourism and fishing.
Examples of threats are: new infrastructure for shipping, eight proposed large dams (including hydropower), diffuse pollution (use of pesticides), gravel extraction/dredging, flood protection and invasive species.
this is so much fun
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