Amazon Basin

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries.

Geography

The South American rainforest of Amazonia (60% located in Brazil), the largest in the world, was originally covered by more than 7,000,000 km² (2 million square miles) of dense tropical forest. For centuries, this has protected the area and the animals residing in it. But over the past 30 years the Brazilian government has transformed Amazonia into factory sites and settlements by sponsoring road projects, colonization schemes, and industrial developments.

Settlements

Amazonia is not heavily populated. There are a few cities along the Amazon's banks and scattered settlements inland, but most of the population lives in cities. The forest has been cleared in areas for plantations and ranching (the most extensive non-forest use of the land) and some of the inhabitants harvest wild latex and Brazil nuts. Though a substantial area of the Amazon basin has been cleared, most of the rain forest remains relatively undisturbed by humans.

Flora and fauna

Not all of the plant and animal life of Amazonia are known because of its hugely unexplored areas. No one knows how many species of fish there are in the river either. Some have estimated close to 2,000 though. Some of the famous Amazon animals that reside here are the electric eel, the piranha, and the anaconda. The small percentage of plants and animals know to science have produced valuable foods, medicine, and commercial products.

The rain forest in the Amazon Basin is under threat from logging, the clearing of land for farms and ranches, and water pollution.