A Few Facts About the Amazon

• The Amazon River is the largest river in the world in volume
• It is the second longest river in the world, with 4,040 miles (the first is the Nile)
• The Amazon River discharges 1/5 of the world's freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean
• It discharges 3.4 million gallons of water per minute into the ocean; that is 14 times more than the Mississippi river
• Freshwater is still found 100 miles off the coast into the ocean! Can you imagine the strength with which the Amazon's waters enter the Atlantic?!!
• The Amazon River travels through, or touches, 8 countries

The Amazon Forest:

• The Amazon is the largest and densest rainforest in the world; it covers 2.1 million square miles
• 60% of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazilian soil
• It covers 40% of the Brazilian territory
• The Amazon Forest is believed to have 10% of all known plant and animal species, which makes it the largest gene reserve in the world
• A few hectares of the forest contain more species of plants and insects than all of Europe
• The Amazon forest has 1,800 species of butterflys; 2,500 species of fish; 1,500 species of birds; more than 400 different types of hardwood; 200 species of mosquitos (I really don't look forward to meeting those); 50,000 species of plants

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