The Amazon basin covers some 40% of the South American continent. Covering over 5.5 million square kilometers.
The Amazon river is by far the world’s largest river by volume. It has over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are longer than 1000 miles.
This area of immense natural beauty is sometimes referred to as “the lungs of the earth” because more than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon.
Amazon has an incredibly rich ecosystem. There are around 40, 000 plant species, 1,300 bird species, 3000 types of fish, 430 mammals and a whopping 2.5 million different insects.
The forest floor is almost completely dark with less than 1% of the available sunlight because of the dense canopy trees.
The majority of the rivers have a depth of around 20 to 50 m but amazon plunges to around 1000 meters at its deepest points.
The Amazon is home to a whole of fascinating creatures, including flesh-eating piranhas, jaguars, and seriously venomous snakes.
Tropical rainforests only cover about 6% of the earth’s surface, but they are home to more than half the world’s total plant and animal species.
The Amazon rainforest contains around 3,000 fruits. Only 200 of these are consumed in the western world.
