Mind-Blowing Facts about the Amazon Forest

I want to share with you some truly mind-blowing facts about the Amazon Forest.

But first, in case you don’t know, this gorgeous animal in the picture above is our Onça-Pintada (jaguar). It is a magnificent animal.

The Amazon region – a Amazônia, in Portuguese – covers 6.9 million square kilometers and nine countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Peru, and Suriname.

Do not mix up Amazônia (the region) with Amazonas, the Brazilian state.

Brazil’s North Region – Região Norte, in Portuguese – is comprised by seven states: Amazonas, Rondônia, Acre, Roraima, Pará, Amapá, and Tocantins. Brazil’s North Region is the largest Brazilian region in size and the least populated.

The Amazon rainforest covers most of Brazil’s North Region as well as part of the states of Maranhão (Northeast Region) and Mato Grosso (Central-West Region).

A few facts about this very fantastic part of the world:

Facts about the Amazon River

In Portuguese, the Amazon River is o Rio Amazonas.
It is the second longest river in the world with at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km), which makes it just a little shorter than the Nile, in Egypt, although this is disputed.
The total length of the Amazon River is equivalent to the the distance from New York City to Rome.
The Amazon River is the largest river in the world in volume.
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 River’s waters enter the Atlantic Ocean?!!
The Amazon River is the home of the Amazon River dolphin. There are only a few river dolphins on our planet.

Facts about the Amazon Forest

The Amazon Forest 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 butterflies; 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.

Now, that is impressive, don’t you think?

Is visiting the Amazon in your bucket list?