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Amazon River

Amazon River
Rio Amazonas, Río Amazonas
Satellite image of the Amazon Delta
Amazon River and its drainage basin
Native nameAmazonas (Portuguese)
Location
CountryPeru, Colombia, Brazil
CitiesIquitos (Peru); Leticia (Colombia);
Tabatinga (Brazil); Tefé (Brazil);
Itacoatiara (Brazil) Parintins (Brazil);
Óbidos (Brazil); Santarém (Brazil);
Almeirim (Brazil); Macapá (Brazil);
Manaus (Brazil)
Physical characteristics
SourceApurímac River, Mismi Peak
 • locationArequipa Region, Peru
 • coordinates15°31′04″S 71°41′37″W / 15.51778°S 71.69361°W / -15.51778; -71.69361
 • elevation5,220 m (17,130 ft)
MouthAtlantic Ocean
 • location
Brazil
 • coordinates
0°42′28″N 50°5′22″W / 0.70778°N 50.08944°W / 0.70778; -50.08944[1]
Length3,750 km (2,330 mi)[2]

(Amazon–Ucayali–Tambo–Ené–Apurímac 6,400–6,500 km (4,000–4,000 mi)[n 1]

(Amazon–Marañón 5,700 km (3,500 mi)[2]
Basin size(with Tocantins)

6,743,000 km2 (2,603,000 sq mi)[6]–7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi)[3][7]

(5,956,000–6,112,000 km2 without Tocantins[8][7])
Width 
 • minimum700 m (2,300 ft) (Upper Amazon); 1.5 km (0.93 mi) (Itacoatiara, Lower Amazon)[9]
 • average3 km (1.9 mi) (Middle Amazon); 5 km (3.1 mi) (Lower Amazon)[9][10]
 • maximum10–14 km (6.2–8.7 mi) (Lower Amazon);[9][11] 340 km (210 mi) (estuary)[12]
Depth 
 • average15–45 m (49–148 ft) (Middle Amazon); 20–50 m (66–164 ft) (Lower Amazon)[9]
 • maximum150 m (490 ft) (Itacoatiara); 130 m (430 ft) (Óbidos)[9][10]
Discharge 
 • locationAmazon Delta
 • average(with Tocantins)

(Period: 2003–2015)230,000 m3/s (8,100,000 cu ft/s)

[6][13][14][n 2]
 • minimum180,000 m3/s (6,400,000 cu ft/s)
 • maximum340,000 m3/s (12,000,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge 
 • locationNear mouth
 • average(without Tocantins)

206,000–215,000 m3/s (7,300,000–7,600,000 cu ft/s)

[8][13][14]
Discharge 
 • locationSantarém
 • average(Period: 1971–2000)191,624 m3/s (6,767,100 cu ft/s)[17]
 • minimum(Period: 1998–2023)82,160 m3/s (2,901,000 cu ft/s)[16]
 • maximum(Period: 1998–2023)298,400 m3/s (10,540,000 cu ft/s)[16]
Discharge 
 • locationÓbidos
 • average(Period: 1903–2023)165,829.6 m3/s (5,856,220 cu ft/s)[18][n 3]
 • minimum(Period: 1903–2023)95,000 m3/s (3,400,000 cu ft/s)[18]
 • maximum(Period: 1903–2023)260,000 m3/s (9,200,000 cu ft/s)[18]
Discharge 
 • locationManacapuru
 • average(Period: 1997–2015) 105,720 m3/s (3,733,000 cu ft/s)[20]
Basin features
River systemAmazon River
Tributaries 
 • leftMarañón, Nanay, Napo, Ampiyaçu, Putumayo, Japurá, Badajós, Manacapuru, Rio Negro, Urubu, Uatumã, Nhamundá, Trombetas, Maicurú, Curuá, Paru, Jari
 • rightUcayali, Jandiatuba, Javary, Jutai, Juruá, Tefé, Coari, Purús, Madeira, Paraná do Ramos, Tapajós, Curuá-Una, Xingu, Pará, Tocantins, Acará, Guamá
Topography of the Amazon River Basin

The Amazon River (UK: /ˈæməzən/, US: /ˈæməzɒn/; Spanish: Río Amazonas, Portuguese: Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the longest or second-longest river system in the world, a title which is disputed with the Nile.[3][21][n 4]

The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered, for nearly a century, the Amazon basin's most distant source until a 2014 study found it to be the headwaters of the Mantaro River on the Cordillera Rumi Cruz in Peru.[26] The Mantaro and Apurímac rivers join, and with other tributaries form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets the Marañón River upstream of Iquitos, Peru, forming what countries other than Brazil consider to be the main stem of the Amazon. Brazilians call this section the Solimões River above its confluence with the Rio Negro[27] forming what Brazilians call the Amazon at the Meeting of Waters (Portuguese: Encontro das Águas) at Manaus, the largest city on the river.

The Amazon River has an average discharge of about 215,000–230,000 m3/s (7,600,000–8,100,000 cu ft/s)—approximately 6,591–7,570 km3 (1,581–1,816 cu mi) per year, greater than the next seven largest independent rivers combined. Two of the top ten rivers by discharge are tributaries of the Amazon river. The Amazon represents 20% of the global riverine discharge into oceans.[28] The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi).[3] The portion of the river's drainage basin in Brazil alone is larger than any other river's basin. The Amazon enters Brazil with only one-fifth of the flow it finally discharges into the Atlantic Ocean, yet already has a greater flow at this point than the discharge of any other river in the world.[29][30]It has a length of 6,400 km (3977 miles) but according to some report its length varies from 7,025-7,100 km (4,365-4,410 miles).

  1. ^ Amazon River at GEOnet Names Server
  2. ^ a b "The Amazon River". 28 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Amazon River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Liu, Shaochuang; Lu, P; Liu, D; Jin, P; Wang, W (1 March 2009). "Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the principal rivers of the world". Int. J. Digital Earth. 2 (1): 80–87. Bibcode:2009IJDE....2...80L. doi:10.1080/17538940902746082. S2CID 27548511. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Where Does the Amazon River Begin?". National Geographic News. 15 February 2014. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  6. ^ a b "CORPOAMAZONIA - TRÁMITES PARA APROVECHAMIENTO FORESTAL" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Théry, Hervé; Maurence, Pascale (1997). HYDROLOGIE DU BASSIN AMAZONIEN (PDF). ISBN 2-7011-1532-9.
  8. ^ a b Jacques Callède et. al.: Les apports en eau de l'Amazone à l'Océan Atlantique Archived 2 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine. In: Revue des sciences de l'eau / Journal of Water Science. Bd. 23, Nr. 3, Montreal 2010, S. 247–273 (retrieved 19 August 2013)
  9. ^ a b c d e "Issues of local and global use of water from the Amazon". Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  10. ^ a b Anderson da Silva, Layes; Marcondes Silva, E. Silva; Genilson Pereira, Santana. "Seasonal assessment of groundwater quality in the cities of Itacoatiara and Manacapuru (Amazon, Brazil)".
  11. ^ "Amazon River-Hidrology". Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Aguas Amazonicas". Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  13. ^ a b Pierre, Ribstein; Bernard, Francou; Anne, Coudrain Ribstein; Philippe, Mourguiart (1995). "EAUX, GLACIERS & CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES DANS LES ANDES TROPICALES - Institut Français d'Études Andines - Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Cooperation" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  14. ^ a b Seyler, Patrick; Laurence Maurice-Bourgoin; Jean Loup Guyot. "Hydrological Control on the Temporal Variability of Trace Element Concentration in the Amazon River and its Main Tributaries". Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM). Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  15. ^ Charles J., Vörösmarty; Berrien, Moore; Annette L., Grace; M. Patricia, Gildea (1989). CONTINENTAL SCALE MODELS OF WATER BALANCE AND FLUVIAL TRANSPORT: AN APPLICATIONS TO SOUTH AMERICA (PDF). Vol. 3. p. 241-265.
  16. ^ a b "River and Reservoir Watch Version 4.5-148".
  17. ^ a b "Lower Amazon".
  18. ^ a b c "ANA".
  19. ^ GRDC: Daten des Pegels Óbidos Archived 9 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ a b Jamie, Towner (2019). "Assessing the performance of global hydrological models for capturing peak river flows in the Amazon basin" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  21. ^ Uereyen, Soner; Kuenzer, Claudia (9 December 2019). "A Review of Earth Observation-Based Analyses for Major River Basins". Remote Sensing. 11 (24): 2951. Bibcode:2019RemS...11.2951U. doi:10.3390/rs11242951. ISSN 2072-4292. As well as being the largest river [by volume], the Amazon River is home to many species of fish.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference britannica-nile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc-amazon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Roach, John (18 June 2007). "Amazon Longer Than Nile River, Scientists Say". National Geographic. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Partners. ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 643483454. Archived from the original on 15 December 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  25. ^ "How Long Is the Amazon River?". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  26. ^ James Contos; Nicholas Tripcevich (March 2014). "Correct placement of the most distant source of the Amazon River in the Mantaro River drainage" (PDF). Area. 46 (1): 27–39. Bibcode:2014Area...46...27C. doi:10.1111/area.12069. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  27. ^ Penn, James R. (2001). Rivers of the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-57607-042-0.
  28. ^ Moura, Rodrigo L.; Amado-Filho, Gilberto M.; Moraes, Fernando C.; Brasileiro, Poliana S.; Salomon, Paulo S.; Mahiques, Michel M.; Bastos, Alex C.; Almeida, Marcelo G.; Silva, Jomar M.; Araujo, Beatriz F.; Brito, Frederico P.; Rangel, Thiago P.; Oliveira, Braulio C.V.; Bahia, Ricardo G.; Paranhos, Rodolfo P.; Dias, Rodolfo J. S.; Siegle, Eduardo; Figueiredo, Alberto G.; Pereira, Renato C.; Leal, Camellia V.; Hajdu, Eduardo; Asp, Nils E.; Gregoracci, Gustavo B.; Neumann-Leitão, Sigrid; Yager, Patricia L.; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B.; Fróes, Adriana; Campeão, Mariana; Silva, Bruno S.; Moreira, Ana P.B.; Oliveira, Louisi; Soares, Ana C.; Araujo, Lais; Oliveira, Nara L.; Teixeira, João B.; Valle, Rogerio A.B.; Thompson, Cristiane C.; Rezende, Carlos E.; Thompson, Fabiano L. (1 April 2016). "An extensive reef system at the Amazon River mouth". Science Advances. 2 (4): e1501252. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E1252M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501252. PMC 4846441. PMID 27152336.
  29. ^ Tom Sterling: Der Amazonas. Time-Life Bücher 1979, 7th German Printing, p. 19.
  30. ^ Smith, Nigel J.H. (2003). Amazon Sweet Sea: Land, Life, and Water at the River's Mouth. University of Texas Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-292-77770-5. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015.


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