Amazon basin
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin (pronunciation: /ˈæməzɔːn ˈbeɪsɪn/) is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about 6,300,000 km2 (2,400,000 sq mi), or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Etymology
The name Amazon is said to arise from a war Francisco de Orellana fought with a tribe of Tapuyas and other tribes from South America. The women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was the custom among the entire tribe. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from the ancient Amazons of Asia and Africa described by Herodotus and Diodorus in Greek legends.
Related Terms
- Amazon Rainforest: The Amazon Rainforest, also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America.
- Amazon River: The Amazon River in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed second longest river in the world.
- Tributary: A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake.
- Drainage basin: A drainage basin is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water.
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