All of the rivers and streams (big and small) that eventually feed into the Amazon are part of the Amazon basin. There are an estimated 15,000 tributaries (give or take a few) that all contribute to the Amazon and its mind-boggling volume of water. During the wet season (rather than having seasons of hot and cold like we do in the northern hemisphere, in the Amazon the seasons are wet and dry) an estimated 300,000 cubic metres of water per second enters the Atlantic Ocean when the Amazon meets the sea. What is astounding is that 20% of all the fresh water on the planet that enters into the ocean does so via the Amazon River. In fact the area covered by the Amazon River and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year. In an average dry season 110,000 square km of land are water-covered, while in the wet season the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square km.

At approximately 6400 kilometres in length the Amazon is the second longest river in the world. The only river longer is the Nile, in Africa, but when you compare the volume of water of each, the Amazon contributes 60 times more fresh water into the ocean. Thus the Amazon is definitely worthy of the title, the “World’s Greatest River”.

The city that I am in now, Belem, is the capital city of the state of Para in north-east Brazil. With over 2 million inhabitants, it is the largest city along the Amazon River. Belem is one of two key ports along the Brazilian section of river, the other being Manaus, located approximately 1500 kilometres upstream from the river’s mouth.