River · Peru, Colombia, Brazil
Amazon
The Amazon carries more water than any other river on Earth, winding through the world's largest rainforest in South America. It is home to more kinds of plants and animals than almost anywhere else.
Picture credit: Tayeçe2024 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Tayeçe2024 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Fritz Rudolf Loewa (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Amazon?
The river begins at Nevado Mismi, Andes Mountains, Peru.
It ends in the Atlantic Ocean.
Along the way it passes: Nevado Mismi, Peru → Apurímac Canyon → Atalaya, Peru → Nauta, Peru → Iquitos, Peru → Leticia, Colombia → Tefé, Brazil → Manaus, Brazil → Santarém, Brazil → Óbidos, Brazil.
Countries on the river: Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia.
The story behind it
High in the Peruvian Andes, melting snow trickles into a stream that eventually becomes the mighty Amazon. As it flows east across Brazil, hundreds of tributaries join it, and the river grows so wide that in places you cannot see the opposite bank. The surrounding rainforest holds an astonishing one in ten of all known species on the planet, from pink river dolphins to piranhas to jaguars prowling the flooded forest floor. Remarkably, no bridge crosses the Amazon anywhere along its entire length, because for most of its journey the riverbanks are covered in dense jungle rather than cities. Scientists still debate whether the Amazon or the Nile deserves the title of the world's longest river, but everyone agrees the Amazon wins easily for the most water carried to the sea.
Questions children ask
How long is the Amazon River?
The Amazon is roughly 6,400 kilometres long, though scientists measure it differently depending on which distant stream they count as its true source. That makes it one of the two longest rivers in the world, alongside the Nile.
How much water does the Amazon carry?
The Amazon discharges around 209,000 cubic metres of water into the Atlantic Ocean every second. That is more than the next seven biggest rivers on Earth combined, making it by far the most powerful river alive.
What animals live in the Amazon River?
The Amazon and its rainforest are home to pink river dolphins, piranhas, giant otters, anacondas and thousands of fish species. Scientists believe there could be many more species still waiting to be discovered there.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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