UJ #16 - Amazon Cruises

AMAZONIA, THE HEART OF SOUTH AMERICA
An immense green blanket covers over 60% of Peru’s
surface. Beneath it, dozens of ecosystems expand across
the land brimming with life and properties that are still
being discovered. While being one of the most amazing
regions in the world, the Amazon continues to be one of
the least exploited and most fragile, due to increasing
pollution and deforestation.
together with the Atlantic Ocean. Identifying its exact
place of origin, however, was not as easy. In 1996, a
research expedition set off to search for the place where
the Amazon River is born, a mission that took the group
all the way to the Lari province in Arequipa where the
Chila Mountain Range is found.
Like the Amazon,
several Peruvian
rivers have their
origin in the snowcapped
mountains
of the Andes.
When thinking about the Amazon, one must look
beyond Peru and Brazil – recognized for housing
the largest Amazon territories (11.27% and 59.17%
respectively) – and consider the six other countries that
share this magical region: Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia,
Guyana, Surinam, and Ecuador, as well as the overseas
department of French Guyana. Thus, it can very well be
considered the heart of South America.
The Amazon is so vast that when we refer to it, we must
speak in millions. For example, 34 million people live within
the Amazon, surrounded by 6.7 million square-kilometres
of forests, and 2.1 million kilometres of protected areas.
To that, one must add the million square-kilometres of
fresh-water ecosystems, and consider that 20% of the
world’s water supply is found here.
THE RIVER OF RIVERS
The spinal column of the Amazon is the Amazon River.
Father to all rivers, the Amazon is both the largest river
by discharge volume of water, and the longest river in
the world, extending for 7,062 kilometres across almost
all of South America.
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The inhabitants
of the Amazon
have adapted
their way of
life to the
environment
and the climate
of the jungle.
Identifying the end-point of the Amazon River is easy;
just follow the river to the north of Brazil where it comes
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In Peru, more than 40 different
species of monkeys have been
recorded
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