The Amazon Rainforest
Four facts about the Amazon
The Amazon region:
- covers over 6.7 million km2
- and comprises over 40% of the world’s remaining tropical forests.
- stretches across nine countries in South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
- By far the largest portion - around 60% – is in Brazil.
- is so vast that, if it were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world.
- comprises mostly evergreen tropical forest, which covers 80% of the area.
- But there are also swamps, deciduous forests, savannas, rivers and lakes, as well as increasing areas of agricultural land.
The Amazon River
The Amazon River is the largest in the world in terms of volume.
- It is fed by about 1,100 tributaries.
- The brown waters of the Amazon can be seen 100km out to sea.
- It is up to 6,800km long.
- The Amazon basin contains the most freshwater fish species in the world.
|
