Demystifying South America's AMAZONIA

The Amazon BASIN:

* The Amazon Basin is the Largest drainage basin in the World and covers over 2.7 million square miles (6.9 million square kilometers or 1.7 Billion acres)...an Area over 10 times the size of Texas

* Per Wikipedia, the Basin covers approx 40% of South America...most of which (about 54%) is located in Brazil but it also extends to Peru and several other South American countries

The Amazon RIVER:

* The Amazon River stretches over 4,000 miles long and according to National Geographic, may be longer than Africa's Nile River thus making it the World's Longest River...see the link at the bottom of the post for more info

* The Amazon River is the World's Largest River by Volume and is responsible for about 1/5 of the Total Volume of Fresh Water entering the World's Oceans (1/5 of the World's total 'river flow')

* At its widest point the Amazon River can be 7 miles (11 km) wide during the DRY season, but during the RAINY season when the Amazon floods the surrounding plains it can be up to 28 miles wide (45 km)

The Amazon RAINFOREST:

* South America's Amazon Rain Forest is the World's Largest Rain Forest and covers approx 3.4 million square miles (5.5 million square km or 1.4 Billion acres)...if 'Amazonia' were a country it'd be the 9th Largest country in the World

* The Rain Forest is located within 9 countries: Brazil (with approx 60% of the rainforest), Peru (with 13%...2nd after Brazil), Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana

* Per Wiki, "...the Amazon Rainforest is the most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the WORLD as the region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals...To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region"

* According to the January 2007 edition of National Geographic, given the Amazon Rainforest's current DEforestation Rate, the Rainforest will be reduced by 40% within the next 20 Years...Per annual deforestation data provided by Brazil's INPE (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - 'National Institute of Space Research'), about 83% of the Rainforest now remains relative to its size prior to 1970 (100%). Most rainforests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers and fires for its timber value and then occupied by new farming and ranching operations. Per the below diagram, a disproportionate majority of the deforestation activity seems to have occurred in Brazil -

* As of 2006, about 1.05 million square miles (1.73 million square km or 430 million acres) of the Amazon Rainforest was marked for Conservation or protection

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Basin

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070619-amazon-river.html

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia, National Geographic, BBC, WWF + INPE