The Amazon Basin 

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The Amazon Basin is an amazing location. For one thing, it contains almost a fourth of all of the Earth's fresh water.  That's a whole lot of water in one place.  I imagine the polar ice caps couldn't even match that much fresh water.  It also is connected through six countries that include Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Bolivia.  We know that water is one of the key requirements to sustain life.  It should come at no surprise that over one third of all of the world's species can be found in the Amazon Basin.

Manaus is the city that can be found at the heart of Amazon Basin. This city is barely above sea level, so there is often a lot of flooding.

The Amazon River flows eastward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean.  The Andes Mountains border the river to the west.  This is over four thousand miles in length, and spans over 2.7 million square miles.  The very mouth of the Amazon River is said to be over 250 miles in diameter.

Many people believe the Amazon rainforest to be the first rainforest that ever appeared on the Earth.  It can be difficult to place an age on when it came to be, but many scientists agree that it pre-dates any of the other rainforests by many years.  The rainforest canopy is home to hundreds of tree varieties, and flourishs like no other life found on the Earth.

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