The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about 6,915,000 square kilometres (2,670,000 sq mi), or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. The Amazon rain forest is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km² (3,179,720 sq mi) with dense tropical forest. As much of the Amazon is unexplored, many of its indigenous plants and animals are unknown. Plant growth is dense and the variety of animals living is comparatively more because of the heavy rainfall and the dense forests covered with huge evergreen and coniferous forests. The forests are in fact so thick that the dense "roof" created by the leaves and branches does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground. The ground remains dark and damp. Only shade tolerant trees and vegetation may grow here. Orchids and bromeliads use trees and other plants to get closer to the sunlight. They grow hanging onto the branches or tree trunks with aerial roots, not as parasites but as epiphytes. One tropical fruit tree that is native to the Amazon is the abiu. There are thousands of plants, all in different colors, sizes, and shapes. There are also many other living organisms that have their homes in these plants. The Amazon River Basin has low-water season, and a wet season during which the rivers flood adjacent low lying forests. The climate of the basin is generally hot and humid. In some areas, however, the winter months (June-September) can bring cold snaps, fueled by Antarctic winds travelling along the adjacent Andes mountain range. Such cold conditions can be devastating for some of the region's tropical plant and animal species. Amazonia is very sparsely populated. There are scattered settlements inland, but most of the population lives in a few larger cities on the banks of the Amazon and other major rivers, such as in Iquitos (Peru), Manaus and Belém (Brazil). In many regions, the forest has been cleared for soy bean plantations and ranching (the most extensive non-forest use of the land) and some of the inhabitants harvest wild rubber latex and Brazil nuts. This is a form of extractive farms, where the trees are not cut down, and thus this is a relatively sustainable human impact. The largest organization fighting for the indigenous peoples in this area is COICA, which is a supraorganization emcompassing all indigenous rights organizations working in the Amazon Basin area, living in several countries. Seasonal floods excavate and redistribute nutrient-rich silt onto beaches and islands, enabling dry-season riverside agriculture of rice, beans, and corn on the river's shoreline without the addition of fertilizer, with additional slash and burn agriculture on higher floodplains. Fishing provides additional food year round, and free-range chickens need little or no food beyond what they can forage locally. Charcoal made largely from forest and shoreline deadfall is produced for use in urban areas. Exploitation of bush meat, particularly deer and turtles is common. The most widely spoken language in the Amazon is Portuguese, followed closely by Spanish. On the Brazil side Portuguese is spoken by at least 98% of the population, whilst in the Spanish-speaking countries a large number of speakers of indigenous languages are present, though Spanish is predominate. There are hundreds of native languages still spoken in the Amazon, most of which are spoken by only a handful of people, and thus are critically endangered. One of the most widely spoken languages in the Amazon is Nheengatu, which is descended from the ancient Tupi language, originally spoken in the coastal and central regions of Brazil. It was brought to its present location along the Rio Negro by Brazilian colonizers who, until the mid-17th century, who primarily used Tupi rather than the official Portuguese to communicate. Besides modern Nheengatu, other languages of the Tupi family are spoken there, along with other language families like Jê (with its important sub-branch Jayapura spoken in the Xingu River region and othes), Arawak, Karib, Arawá, Yanomamo, Matsés and others. This video has copyright of the Amazon Goverment.

• published: 25 May 2012
• views: 1967