Amazon River

                     Amazon River

                              The Amazon River (US  /ˈæməzɒn/ or UK /ˈæməzən/; Portuguese:Amazonas; Spanish: Amazonas) in South America is the second longest  river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not including Madeira and Rio Negro, which are tributaries of the Amazon). The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, about 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi), accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow.

                              In its upper stretches, above the confluence of the Negro River, the Amazon is called Solimões in Brazil; however, in Peru, Colombia andEcuador, as well as the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, the river is generally called the Amazon downstream from the confluence of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers in Peru. The Ucayali-Apurímac river system is considered the main source of the Amazon.

                               The width of the Amazon varies between 1.6 and 10 kilometres (1.0 and 6.2 mi) at low stage, but expands during the wet season to 48 kilometres (30 mi) or more. The river enters the Atlantic Ocean in a broad estuary about 240 kilometres (150 mi) wide. The mouth of themain stem is 80 kilometres (50 mi).^[5] Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea. The first bridge in the Amazon river system (over the Rio Negro) opened on October 10, 2010. It is just outside Manaus

Drainage area

                                              The Amazon Basin, the largest in the world, covers about 30% of South America, an area of approximately 7.050.000 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi). It flows from west to east from Iquitos in Peru to all the way across Brazil to the Atlantic. It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-Andean plateau, just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.