The Amazon River, located in northern South America, originates from the Andes Mountains in Peru and flows eastward into the Atlantic Ocean.
With a length of 6,400 kilometers, it ranks as the world's second-longest river.
Its main stream is situated in Brazil, covering a basin area of nearly 7 million square kilometers, occupying almost half of Brazil's territory.
The annual average flow of the Amazon River is 6.9 trillion cubic meters, rightfully earning its title as the world's largest river.
The scale of the Amazon River surpasses that of other major rivers.
While it is slightly shorter than the Nile River by 200 kilometers, its basin area is twice that of the Congo River and 2.4 times that of the Nile River, and 3.8 times that of the Yangtze River.
Moreover, its flow volume is three times that of the Nile, Yangtze, and Congo Rivers combined.
Its single tributary, the Madeira River, has a flow volume as high as 1.05 trillion cubic meters, almost on par with the Congo River and even larger than the Yangtze River.
This extraordinary scale of the Amazon River is closely related to its geographical environment.
Most of its basin is located in the equatorial region, characterized by a tropical rainforest climate with an annual precipitation exceeding 2,000 millimeters, compared to the Yangtze River Basin's annual precipitation of only 1,000 millimeters.
The vast basin of the Amazon River, bounded by the Guiana Highlands in the north and the Brazilian Highlands in the south, collects 15,000 tributaries from both the north and south, resulting in its remarkable flow volume.
The average width of the Amazon River's main stream is about 5 kilometers, reaching up to 12 kilometers at its widest point, and even expanding to 38 kilometers during the rainy season.
With an average depth of 45 meters, deeper than most seaports, vessels of over 100,000 tons can navigate directly to Iquitos upstream, requiring almost no maintenance throughout the journey.
The entire Amazon River basin is almost flat and hazard-free, with most tributaries also navigable, forming an extensive waterway network, unparalleled in global navigational capability.
In comparison, although the Yangtze River is the world's third-largest river, its navigational capability is far inferior to that of the Amazon River.
The flow volume of the Yangtze River is only one-seventh that of the Amazon River, with an average width of about 1,000 meters and an average depth of only 20 meters.
Currently, navigation is only possible downstream of Yibin, covering a distance of about 3,000 kilometers.
After artificial dredging, vessels of over 100,000 tons can navigate below Nanjing, while only vessels of 3,000 tons can navigate in the upstream Chongqing section.
However, despite the Yangtze River's inferior navigational capability compared to the Amazon River, its shipping value far exceeds the latter.
The Amazon River basin, known as the "Amazon Rainforest," is the world's largest tropical rainforest, characterized by a hot and humid climate, seasonal flooding, and abundant poisonous snakes and wild beasts, making it extremely unsuitable for human habitation and considered a "human exclusion zone."
With a population of only 15 million people in the entire basin, including over 200 indigenous tribes, there are almost no decent cities except for Belem.
Even the largest city, Iquitos, has yet to be connected to the outside world by roads or railways.
Therefore, the shipping value of the Amazon River is almost negligible.
In contrast, the Yangtze River basin is densely populated and economically developed, possessing the world's largest economic hinterland, making the Yangtze one of the rivers with the highest shipping value in the world.
Comments