7 Most Important Rivers in the World

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Amazon River

At about 6,400 km or 4,000 miles, the Amazon River is the 2nd largest river in the planet, somewhat smaller than the Nile although legitimate sources object as to the specific length of the two rivers. What is true is that the Amazon is the longest river in the planet by volume, with a whole river current that values for about 1/5 of the world’s freshwater river flow.  The Amazon and it’s tributaries run through Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador before draining toward the Atlantic Ocean.

The Amazon has more than 3,000 known varieties of fish, and new varieties are still under research. With the Orinoco River, it is one of the primary territories of the Amazon River Dolphin, the widest varieties of river dolphin, which can stretch to lengths up to 2.6 meters or 8.5 feet. Bull shark has been recorded 4,000 km (2,500mi) up the Amazon River at Peru’s Iquitos. Notorious Piranha is another deadly fish in the Amazon which gathers in large schools, though only a few varieties are recognized to strike humans.

Amazon River

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