Most ships enter the Amazon River by way of the Para River, on the southern side of Marajo Island. Ocean vessels can sail about 3,700 kilometres up the Amazon to Iquitos, Peru. Belem, at the mouth of the Para River, and Manaus, 1,600 kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Amazon, are important ports. Ships bring in clothing, food, tools, and other products. They pick up such raw materials as animal skins, Brazil nuts, timber, and rubber. The ships also take aboard live birds, fish, and other animals bought by pet shops and zoos.
The course of the Amazon begins high in the Andes Mountains of Peru as a small stream called the Apurimac River. The Apurimac lies 5,240 metres above sea level. It flows northwest into the Ucayali River, the lower branch of the Amazon in Peru. The Ucayali flows north through the Andes and then turns east and joins the Maranon River, the Amazon's upper branch. This junction takes place near Iquitos, Peru, and forms the main channel of the Amazon. The river continues eastward across Brazil and flows into the Atlantic Ocean on the northern side of Marajo Island.
The Amazon tumbles rapidly through the Andes and falls about 5,000 metres during the first 970 kilometres. It falls only about 240 metres more during the rest of its course. The river flows at a speed of about 2.5 kilometres per hour during the dry season. Its flow increases to about 5 kilometres per hour when the river is swollen by rain.
More than 200 tributaries flow into the Amazon River. These smaller rivers include the Japura, the Jurua, the Madeira, the Purus, the Tapajos, and the Rio Negro.
An unusually high ocean tide occasionally overpowers the current at the mouth of the Amazon. This creates a wall of water called a bore that measures up to 4.5 metres high and rushes upstream.
Animal and plant life. Many kinds of fish live in the Amazon River. They include the fierce, flesh-eating piranha and the pirarucu, one of the largest fresh-water fish of South America. The basin area is the home of such animals as alligators, anacondas, monkeys, parrots, sloths, and many species of insects.
The Amazon rain forest has a great variety of plant life. Scientists have found more than 3,000 species of plants in 2.5 square kilometres there. The trees stand as tall as 60 metres. Their tops grow so close together that only a little sunlight can reach the ground.
History. Indians lived in the Amazon River basin before white people first came to the area. Vincente Pinzon, a Spanish explorer, was probably the first European to see the Amazon. In 1500, he sailed to the coast of what is now Brazil. During 1541 and 1542, another Spaniard, Francisco de Orellana, led the first exploration of the river by a European. His expedition followed the Amazon from the mouth of the Napo River in Peru to the Atlantic. During Orellana's journey, his group was attacked by what appeared to be female Indian warriors. The Spaniards called their attackers Amazons, after the female warriors in Greek mythology (see AMAZONS). The name was later given to the river and the nearby area.
During the mid-1800's, the Amazon basin became an important source of rubber, obtained from trees in the region. But after about 1910, plantations in Southeast Asia began to produce rubber more cheaply. The demand for Amazon rubber fell, and the economy of the region collapsed. Since the 1960's, the Brazilian government has built roads and airports in the Amazon basin. New towns and farms have been established in the basin, and its population has grown.
