The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia at Pemberton Place, is billed as the "world's largest aquarium" with more than 8.1 million US gallons (31,000 m³) of marine and fresh water housing more than 100,000 animals of 500 different species. The aquarium's notable specimens include four young whale sharks, three beluga whales and two manta rays.
Funded mostly by a $250 million donation from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, the aquarium was built on a 20 acre (81,000 m²) site north of Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Marcus credited his 60th birthday dinner at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 1990 as among the inspirations behind his desire to build an aquarium in Atlanta.

History and admissions
In November 2001, Bernard Marcus announced his idea to build an aquarium as a present to Atlanta, Georgia that would encourage both education and economic growth. Marcus and his wife Billi visited 56 aquariums in 13 countries to research and design a structure, and finally donated $250 million toward Georgia Aquarium’s construction.An additional $40 million dollars in financial contributions was donated by major corporations including the Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, Home Depot, UPS, AirTran Airways, BellSouth, Georgia Pacific, Time Warner, SunTrust and Southern Company.The corporate donations allowed the aquarium to open debt free.
Marcus hired Jeff Swanagan, the then CEO of the Florida Aquarium, as the Georgia Aquarium's first employee in 2002.Swanagan had been credited with turning around the financially troubled Florida Aquarium during his tenure as CEO.Swanagan would become the Georgia Aquarium's founding president and executive director, and is largely credited with the creation of the aquarium.He oversaw every aspect in the creation of the aquarium,from the design of the structure to the procurement of animals for the exhibits.
After 27 months and with 60 animal habitats, 16,400 square feet (1,520 m2) of ball room space, 2 food service kitchens, gift shops, a 4-D theater, an on-site restaurant, and a parking lot, the Georgia Aquarium opened first on November 21, 2005 to annual pass holders and then on November 23, 2005 to the general public. At $26 per adult, $21.50 for Seniors, and $19.50 for Children, the price of admission to the non-profit aquarium is among the most expensive in the country. The aquarium has nevertheless far exceeded visitor expectations, welcoming its 1 millionth guest on March 1, 2006, only ninety-eight days after opening. The aquarium sold over 290,000 annual passes for its first year, before sales were halted (to avoid a "private club" atmosphere, according to Aquarium Executive Director Jeff Swanagan).The Georgia Aquarium welcomed its three millionth guest on August 24, 2006, its five millionth on May 23, 2007, and its ten millionth guest on June 25, 2009.

Jeff Swanagan remained the president and chief executive of the Georgia Aquarium until 2008, when he departed to join the Columbus Zoo.He was succceeded as president by Anthony Godfrey.Godfrey had originally been hired by Swanagan in 2004 as the aquarium's chief financial officer.

Collection
Whale shark in the viewing theatreThe Georgia Aquarium contains between 100,000 and 120,000 fish and other sea creatures, representing more than five hundred species. On June 14, 2005, the total number of specimens was unveiled after having previously being reported as "over 55,000". Marcus was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying: "I have been saying that we would have more than 55,000 fish; I just never said how many more." The fish were transported from Taiwan to the aquarium by UPS in 42 tanks aboard an MD-11. UPS donated the cost of the shipping, estimated at over $200,000 US currency.
The aquarium's most famous specimens were four young whale sharks from Taiwan named Ralph, Norton, Alice and Trixie, after the primary characters from The Honeymooners. Ralph died from peritonitis on January 11, 2007, and Norton followed on June 13, 2007 when the aquarium made the decision to euthanize him after he had shown signs of erratic swimming and had stopped eating.Ralph and Norton were with the Georgia Aquarium at its opening; Alice and Trixie joined the aquarium June 3, 2006.
The Georgia Aquarium is the only institution outside of Asia to house whale sharks. The sharks are kept in a 6.3 million gallon (24,000 m³) tank, and the aquarium was actually designed around the whale shark exhibit.The importation of the whale sharks from Taiwan, which was overseen by Jeff Swanagan and staff biologists, was "top secret" and had never been attempted previously.The move required the use of large aircraft, trucks and boats to ship the massive aquatic animals to Atlanta.The four whale sharks were taken from Taiwan's annual fishing kill quota, which the country has since abolished.Under the quota, the whale sharks would have been killed and eaten if they had not been purchased by the Georgia Aquarium.On May 25, 2007, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency announced the Aquarium had been approved to receive two more whale sharks before Taiwan bans the animals' capture in 2008.On June 1, 2007 the two new whale sharks arrived at the aquarium. The two sharks, caught earlier in 2007, are named Taroko, commemorating Taroko Gorge National Park, and Yushan after Taiwan's Jade Mountain.

The aquarium is currently one of only two aquariums in the United States to exhibit a Great Hammerhead Shark, the other is the Adventure Aquarium.The aquarium was also home to five 11 foot (3 m) long beluga whales. Two males named Nico and Gasper were rescued from a Mexico City amusement park where they lived under a roller coaster. Because of insufficient weight, skin lesions, and a bone disease, on January 2, 2007, Gasper was euthanized.[11] Marina died on December 1, 2007 of what may have been natural causes (she was 25 years old). The remaining females (Natasha and Maris) are on breeding loan from the New York Aquarium. The aquarium is among six other US aquariums, including Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, with belugas in their collections.

Nandi the manta rayContinuing its drive to display marine animals rarely seen in the United States, the aquarium acquired a manta ray from an aquarium facility in Durban, South Africa. Named "Nandi," the manta was caught by accident in nets meant to protect the coast from sharks. Officials at the Durban facility determined that the manta had outgrown its home, and offered the manta to the much-larger Georgia Aquarium. Nandi first went on display in the Ocean Voyager exhibit on August 25, 2008 as the first manta ray on display in the country,and making the aquarium one of only four in the world to display one.A second manta ray was added to the collection in September 2009.

Exhibits
The Ocean Voyager exhibit tunnel
Five Beluga WhalesThe aquatic animals are displayed in five different galleries: Georgia Explorer, Tropical Diver, Ocean Voyager, Cold- Water Quest, and River Scout. Each corresponds to a specific environment. At the left as one enters the aquarium is the Georgia Explorer exhibit, geared especially towards children. It features a number of touch tanks with rays and sharks as well as exhibits featuring sea turtles and the wildlife of Gray's Reef – a National Marine Sanctuary off the Georgia Coast. The second exhibit, River Scout, also reflects regional environments. It features an overhead river where visitors can see North American fish from the bottom up. In addition to local specimens, this exhibit displays piranha, electric fish, and other unusual freshwater life. The third section of the aquarium, Cold Water Quest, features animals from the polar regions of the world and contains most of the mammals in the aquarium's collection. This exhibit includes beluga whales in the aquarium's second largest habitat, California sea lions, Japanese spider crabs, and African black-footed penguins. The fourth exhibit, entitled Ocean Voyager, includes the vast majority of the aquarium's water and almost 100,000 fish. This exhibit is designed to feature the life of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, and showcases the aquarium's whale sharks, as well as a 100 foot (30 m) underwater tunnel and the world's second largest viewing window. The final exhibit takes an artistic turn, as the Tropical Diver exhibit features many curious and haunting forms of aquatic life, including a living reef with live coral. The aquarium also features a "4D" movie "Deepo's Undersea 3D Wondershow", and other attractions, including the Ocean Voyager – Journey With Giants exhibit hall where the Chedd-Angier-Lewis production company, with Electrosonic Inc., has produced the Open Ocean Touchwall, a dynamic, interactive projection for species identification. This is a virtual aquarium where larger than life, fully articulated 3-D renderings of Open Ocean fish swim across six panels assembled to simulate a tank. Guests are invited to reach out and place hands or fingers on the fish. As they do so, fun and informative content bubbles appear to educate the guest about the particular species they have chosen. Also, in 2009, the "Titanic Aquatic" exhibit opened, which features a walkthrough of what it was like on the ship RMS Titanic. The exhibit will only be at the aquarium until September 7, 2009.

The aquarium development was managed by Heery International who served as the Program Manager / Owner's representative for the Georgia Aquarium. The base building was designed by Atlanta-based architecture firm tvsdesign, formerly Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates. In addition, tvsdesign also did the interior design of the facility as well as the design of the two retail shops located inside the aquarium. The aquarium galleries were designed by the St. Louis based firm of PGAV.

Conservation
Cuttlefish at the aquariumAccording to aquarium founder Bernard Marcus, the aquarium's conservation and environmental mission is just as important as its status as an attraction. Long before opening, the aquarium was already working with Georgia Tech and Georgia State University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens to help save endangered species through education and research programs.

The acquisition of the male beluga whales, previously suffering in an inadequate environment, was hailed by Marcus as a prime example of the type of conservation activities the Aquarium should be involved with. Approximately 100 tarpon stranded in a tidal pool at Skidaway Island, off the Georgia coast, were rescued for the collection. Coral used in exhibits at the Aquarium is manmade in a collaboration between Georgia Tech and the University of the South Pacific, produced by suspending blocks of pumice over a reef near the village of Tagaqe, Fiji for eight months so that seaweeds and reef invertebrates could establish colonies.

Facilities
The petting tank featuring bonnethead sharks and cownose raysThe Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest at the time of its opening in November 2005, encompasses 550,000 square feet (5.1 ha; 13 acres) of covered space and includes 328 tons of acrylic windows, 290 plumbing fixtures, 200 floor drains, 53 roof tops, 61 miles (98 km) of wires and pipes and 100,000 yards (91,000 m) of concrete in the structure. It holds 8,000,000 US gallons (30,000 m3) of fresh and salt water (conditioned with 1,500,000 pounds (680 t) of "Instant Ocean" sea salt mix) and houses more than 100,000 fish and animals. The blue metal and glass exterior of the aquarium was designed to resemble a giant ark breaking through a wave. The ship’s hull appears to emerge from two large buildings that feature curved, flowing roofs that were designed to represent ocean swells. The record for largest aquarium in the world is highly contested; however, Dubai's three story Dubai Mall aquarium claims it will be the world's largest when it opens in the new Burj Dubai project.

With an accelerated 27-month schedule, the project timeline for the construction of the aquarium was aggressive. To facilitate the phased construction activities that were essential to meeting the project schedule, two-ply asphalt BUR was installed over a lightweight concrete deck. This temporary roof allowed for expedited construction and the associated roof traffic. The final stage included installation of the light gray FiberTite roofing system, which was selected to match the gray wall panels. Construction of the aquarium was contracted by Brasfield & Gorrie, a general contractor headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

In addition to the massive habitats that are the core of the aquarium, the facility includes the 16,400 square feet (1,520 m2) Oceans Ballroom – a banquet hall that can host events for up to 1100 seated or 1600 at a reception. The hall features two 10 by 28 feet (3.0 m × 8.5 m) windows into the exhibits housing the whale sharks and beluga whales. It can also be subdivided into three smaller spaces for events. Chef Wolfgang Puck's company will manage catering services for this facility. The aquarium also includes a fairly large food court with tables extending into the main lobby. The costs of building the aquarium escalated beyond Marcus' original US$250 million donation. To complete the facility without scaling back plans, six local companies — AirTran Airways, BellSouth, Georgia-Pacific, The Home Depot, Southern Company, and SunTrust Banks — signed on as presenting sponsors for exhibits.

In May of 2008, the Georgia Aquarium announced plans to build a $110 million expansion to the facility for a new dolphin exhibit. The expansion will occupy an area of 84,000 square feet (7,800 m2)[4] and will contain 1,300,000 US gallons (4,900 m3) of water. Located on the west side of the facility, the exhibit will feature space for live presentations, observation windows and opportunities for visitors to interact with the animals, which are being lent by Marineland on a breeding loan. This expansion will be self funded by the aquarium, possibly with the help of a corporate sponsor.

Construction began later in 2008, and the scheduled completion date is November 2010, five years after the aquarium first opened. During part of the construction, the aquarium's three beluga whales were temporarily relocated to SeaWorld San Antonio.[14] Beluga whales are very sensitive to sound, and while officials had not noted any excessive amounts of stress, it was decided to remove them anyway and eliminate the possibility.

Location
Aerial view of the aquariumOriginally proposed for the Atlantic Station development in Midtown Atlanta, the Georgia Aquarium is located in downtown Atlanta, just north of Centennial Olympic Park. In addition to the Park and the Aquarium, within a short distance are the Georgia Dome, the Georgia World Congress Center, Philips Arena, and CNN Center. The Coca-Cola Company donated 9 acres (40,000 m²; 4 ha) of land to the site and opened a new World of Coca-Cola attraction on property adjacent to the aquarium. The site is named Pemberton Place in honor of Coca-Cola creator John Pemberton.
Even before opening, the Georgia Aquarium helped drive new development in the area aiding efforts by the City of Atlanta and Central Atlanta Progress, a group of local business leaders, to revitalize downtown. In December 2004, a $300 million office and hotel development was announced for a nearby site. The complex is named Allen Plaza in commemoration of former Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., and includes office space for the Southern Company and accounting firm Ernst & Young, as well as W Hotel.

Programs
In June 2008, the aquarium announced its "Swim With Gentle Giants" program. This will allow a dozen divers per day to swim with the whale sharks for $290. There is some controversy over the swim program due to the fact that two of these sharks died in 2007 while in captivity at the Georgia Aquarium. Some experts feel that the human contact would expose the sharks to exotic germs. Visiting divers are instructed to keep a five-foot distance from the whale sharks and other fish while in the in 6.3-million-gallon tank. Divers are also able to document their experience with a $50 commemorative DVD.

The Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى‎, aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. To the south, it is delimited by the Sahel: a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna that comprises the northern region of central and western Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Sahara has an intermittent history that may go back as much as 3 million years. Some of the sand dunes can reach 180 metres (600 ft) in height.The name comes from the Arabic word for desert: (صَحراء), "ṣaḥrā´" ( صحراء (help·info); /sˤɑħrɑːʔ/).
The Sahara's boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Red Sea and Egypt on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger River on the south. The Sahara is divided into western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains (a region of desert mountains and high plateaus), Ténéré desert and the Libyan desert (the most arid region). The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi (3,415 m/11,200 ft) in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.

The Sahara divides the continent of Africa into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the lusher Sudan and the Congo River Basin. Most of the Sahara consists of rocky hamada; ergs (large sand dunes) form only a minor part.


People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago since the last ice age. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive, with half found in the Tassili n'Ajjer in southeast Algeria. Fossils of dinosaurs, including Afrovenator, Jobaria and Ouranosaurus, have also been found here. The modern Sahara, though, is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley, at a few oases, and in the northern highlands, where Mediterranean plants such as the olive tree are found to grow. The region has been this way since about 5000 years ago. Some 2.5 million people currently live in the Sahara, most of these in Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. Dominant ethnicities in the Sahara are various Berber groups including Tuareg tribes, various Arabised Berber groups such as the Hassaniya-speaking Maure (Moors, also known as Sahrawis), and various black African ethnicities including Tubu, Nubians, Zaghawa, Kanuri, Peul (Fulani), Hausa and Songhai. Important cities located in the Sahara include Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania; Tamanrasset, Ouargla, Bechar, Hassi Messaoud, Ghardaia, El Oued, Algeria; Timbuktu, Mali; Agadez, Niger; Ghat, Libya; and Faya-Largeau, Chad.

Geography
A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the Saharan areaThe Sahara covers huge parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia. It is one of three distinct physiographic provinces of the African massive physiographic division.
The desert landforms of the Sahara are shaped by wind (eolian) or by occasional rains, and include sand dunes and dune fields or sand seas (erg), stone plateaus (hamada), gravel plains (reg), dry valleys (wadi), and salt flats (shatt or chott). Unusual landforms include the Richat Structure in Mauritania.

Several deeply dissected mountains and mountain ranges, many volcanic, rise from the desert, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains, Adrar des Iforas, and the Red Sea hills. The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi, a shield volcano in the Tibesti range of northern Chad.
Most of the rivers and streams in the Sahara are seasonal or intermittent, the chief exception being the Nile River, which crosses the desert from its origins in central Africa to empty into the Mediterranean. Underground aquifers sometimes reach the surface, forming oases, including the Bahariya, Ghardaïa, Timimoun, Kufrah, and Siwah.
The central part of the Sahara is hyper-arid, with little vegetation. The northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of sparse grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis where moisture collects.

To the north, the Sahara reaches to the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt and portions of Libya, but in Cyrenaica and the Magreb, the Sahara borders Mediterranean forest, woodland, and scrub ecoregions of northern Africa, which have a Mediterranean climate characterized by a winter rainy season. According to the botanical criteria of Frank White and geographer Robert Capot-Rey,the northern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the northern limit of Date Palm cultivation (Phoenix dactylifera), and the southern limit of Esparto (Stipa tenacissima), a grass typical of the Mediterranean climate portion of the Maghreb and Iberia. The northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm (3.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation.

To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of dry tropical savanna with a summer rainy season that extends across Africa from east to west. The southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha (a drought-tolerant member of the Chenopodiaceae), or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel.According to climatic criteria, the southern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm (5.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation (note that this is a long-term average, since precipitation varies strongly from one year to another)

The Smithsonian Institution (pronounced /smɪθˈsoʊnɪən/) is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines. Most of its facilities are located in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums, zoo, and nine research centers include sites in New York City, Virginia, Panama, and elsewhere.It has over 136 million items in its collections,publishes two magazines named Smithsonian (monthly) and Air & Space (bimonthly), and employs the Smithsonian Police to protect visitors, staff, and the property of the museums. The Institution's current logo is a stylized sun.
The Smithsonian Institution is established as a trust instrumentality by act of Congress, and it is functionally and legally a body of the federal government. More than two-thirds of the Smithsonian's workforce of some 6,300 persons are employees of the federal government. The Smithsonian is represented by attorneys from the United States Department of Justice in litigation, and money judgments against the Smithsonian are also paid out of the federal treasury.

The legislation that created the Smithsonian Institution (approved by Congress Aug. 10, 1846) called for the creation of a Board of Regents to govern and administer the organization. This 17-member board meets at least four times a year and includes as ex officio members the Chief Justice of the United States and the Vice President of the United States. The nominal head of the Institution is the Chancellor, an office which has traditionally been held by the Chief Justice. In September 2007, the Board created the position of Chair of the Board of the Board of Regents, a position currently occupied by Patricia Q. Stonesifer of Washington State.

Other members of the Board of Regents are three members of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; three members of the Senate, appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate; and nine citizen members, nominated by the Board and approved by the Congress in a joint resolution signed by the President of the United States.Regents who are representatives and senators serve for the duration of their elected term. Citizen Regents serve a maximum of two six-year terms. Regents are compensated on a part-time basis. The chief executive officer of the Smithsonian is the Secretary, who is appointed by the Board of Regents. There have been 12 Secretaries since the Smithsonian was established. The Secretary also serves as secretary to the Board of Regents but is not a voting member of that body. The Secretary of the Smithsonian has the privilege of the floor at the United States Senate.

Windsor Castle, in Windsor in the English country of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation.[1] The castle's floor area is approximately 484,000 square feet (44,965 square metres).[2]

Together with Buckingham Palace in London and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, it is one of the principal official residences of the British monarch. Queen Elizabeth II spends many weekends of the year at the castle, using it for both state and private entertaining. Her other two residences, Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle, are the Royal Family's private homes.

Most of the Kings and Queens of England, later Kings and Queens of Great Britain, and later still kings and queens of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, have had a direct influence on the construction and evolution of the castle, which has been their garrison fortress, home, official palace, and sometimes their prison. Chronologically the history of the castle can be traced through the reigns of the monarchs who have occupied it. When the country has been at peace, the castle has been expanded by the additions of large and grand apartments; when the country has been at war, the castle has been more heavily fortified. This pattern has continued to the present day.

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL), located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. It is the world's second busiest airport in total passenger traffic. It is also the largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It is also the busiest in the European Union in terms of passenger traffic and the second busiest in terms of traffic movements.[3] Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA, which also owns and operates six other UK airports.[4] BAA in turn is owned by an international consortium led by Spain's Ferrovial Group.[5] Heathrow is the primary hub of British Airways, BMI and Virgin Atlantic.

Located 12 NM (22 km; 14 mi) west[1] of Central London, Heathrow originally was designed to have six runways in three pairs spaced approximately 120 degrees apart but now has just two parallel main runways running east-west and five terminals. The site covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). Terminal 5 was officially opened by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008 and opened to passengers on 27 March 2008. Construction of Heathrow East, to replace Terminal 2 and The Queen's Building, began in 2009, and is expected to be completed in 2013.[6] Terminals 3 and 4 will also be refurbished during this period.[7] In November 2007 a consultation process began for the building of a new third runway and was controversially[8] approved on 15 January 2009 by UK Government ministers.[9]

Heathrow Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.[10]

San Alfonso del Mar is a resort located in Algarrobo, Chile frequently noted because of its 1,000-meter long, 19-acre outdoor pool, which holds a Guinness world record[1] as the largest in the world. The resort's large pool utilizes a technology developed by the Chilean company Crystal Lagoons, which uses water pumped from the Pacific Ocean, that is then filtered and treated for supply to the pool.

It has been reported to have a depth of 35 meters (115 feet)[2][3] which would make it the world's deepest pool, however this appears to stem from confusion over it being "transparent to a depth of 35 meters".

0
The Amazon River (Portuguese: Rio Amazonas; Spanish: Río Amazonas; pronounced /ˈæməzɒn/ (US); pronounced /ˈæməzən/ (UK)) of South America is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next eight largest rivers combined. The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow. During the wet season parts of the Amazon exceed 190 kilometres (120 mi) in width. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea. At no point is the Amazon crossed by bridges.This is not because of its huge dimensions; in fact, for most of its length, the Amazon's width is well within the capability of modern engineers to bridge. However, the bulk of the river flows through tropical rainforest, where there are few roads and even fewer cities, so there is no need for crossings.
While the Amazon is the largest river in the world by most measures, the current consensus within the geographic community holds that the Amazon is the second longest river, just slightly shorter than the Nile. However, some scientists, particularly from Brazil and Peru, dispute this
Drainage area
The Amazon basin, the largest drainage basin in the world, covers about 40 percent of South America, an area of approximately 6,915,000 square kilometres (2,670,000 sq mi) . It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-Andean plateau, just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.
The area covered by the water of the Amazon River and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year. In an average dry season 110,000 square kilometres (42,000 sq mi)of land are water-covered, while in the wet season the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square kilometres (135,000 sq mi).

The quantity of water released by the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: up to 300,000 m³ per second in the rainy season. The Amazon is responsible for about 20%of the total volume of fresh water entering the oceans worldwide.Offshore of the mouth of the Amazon, potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline, and the salinity of the ocean is notably lower five hundred kilometres out to sea.
Origins
The Amazon originates from the Apacheta cliff in Arequipa at the Nevado Mismi, with a sole sign of a wooden cross.
Source of the Amazon
Meeting of Waters is the confluence of the Rio Negro (black) and the Rio Solimões (sandy) near Manaus, Brazil.The Upper Amazon has a series of major river systems in Peru and Ecuador, some of which flow into the Marañón and others directly into the Amazon proper. Among others, these include the following rivers: Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, Huallaga, and Ucayali. The headstreams of the Marañón—which for many years had been seen as the origin of the Amazon—flow from high above central Peru's Lake Lauricocha, from the glaciers in what is known as the Nevado de Yarupa. Rushing through waterfalls and gorges in an area of the high jungle called the pongos, the Marañón River flows about 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) from west-central to northeast Peru before it combines with the Ucayali River, just below the provincial town of Nauta, to form the Amazon River.

The most distant source of the Amazon was firmly established in 1996, 2001 and 2007] as a glacial stream on a snowcapped 5,597 m (18,360 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km (99 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (430 mi) southeast of Lima. The waters from Nevado Mismi flow into the Quebradas Carhuasanta and Apacheta, which flow into the Río Apurímac which is a tributary of the Ucayali which later joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper. (While this is the point at which most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon proper, in Brazil the river is known at this point as the Solimões das Águas). Soon thereafter the darkly colored waters of the Rio Negro meet the sandy colored Rio Solimões, and for over 6 km (4 mi) these waters run side by side without mixing.

After the confluence of Río Apurímac and Ucayali, the river leaves Andean terrain and is instead surrounded by flood plain. From this point to the Marañón, some 1,600 km (990 mi) , the forested banks are just out of water, and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood-line. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon Rainforest.

The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries are called the "Upper Amazon". The Amazon River proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru, and it has tributaries reaching into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

Flooding
A NASA satellite image of a flooded portion of the river.Not all of the Amazon's tributaries flood at the same time of the year. Many branches begin flooding in November, and may continue to rise until June. The rise of the Rio Negro starts in February or March, and it also begins to recede in June. The Madeira rises and falls two months earlier than most of the rest of the Amazon.

The average depth of the river in the height of the rainy season is 40 metres (130 ft) and the average width can be nearly 40 km (25 mi)[citation needed].

The main river (which is between approximately one and six miles (10 km) wide) is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) upriver from the mouth. Smaller ocean vessels of 3,000 tons or 9,000 tons[6] and 5.5 metres (18 ft) draft can reach as far as Iquitos, Peru, 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach 780 kilometres (480 mi) higher as far as Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point.


Geography
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (August 2009)
A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, looking southAt some points, for long distances, the river divides into two main streams with inland and lateral channels, all connected by a complicated system of natural canals, cutting the low, flat igapo lands, which are never more than 5 metres (16 ft) above low river, into many islands.
From the town of Canaria at the great bend of the Amazon to the Negro, only very low land is found, resembling that at the mouth of the river.Vast areas of land in this region are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the sombre forests appear. Near the mouth of the Rio Negro to Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, the banks of the Amazon are low, until approaching Manaus, they rise to become rolling hills. At Óbidos, a bluff 17 m (56 ft) above the river is backed by low hills. The lower Amazon seems to have once been a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of which washed the cliffs near Óbidos.

Only about 10% of the water discharged by the Amazon enters the mighty stream downstream of Óbidos, very little of which is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area of the Amazon basin above Óbidos city is about 5 million square kilometres (2,000,000 sq mi), and, below, only about 1 million square kilometres (400,000 sq mi or around 20%), exclusive of the 1.4 million square kilometres (540,000 sq mi) of the Tocantins basin.

In the lower reaches of the river, the north bank consists of a series of steep, table-topped hills extending for about 240 kilometres (150 mi) from opposite the mouth of the Xingu as far as Monte Alegre. These hills are cut down to a kind of terrace which lies between them and the river.

On the south bank, above the Xingu, an almost-unbroken line of low bluffs bordering the flood-plain extends nearly to Santarém, in a series of gentle curves before they bend to the south-west, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajós, merge into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of the Tapajós river valley.

Mouth
Mouth of the Amazon RiverThe definition of what exactly and how wide is the mouth of the Amazon is a matter of dispute, because of the area's peculiar geography. Most particularly, sometimes the Pará River is included, whereas sometimes it is just considered the independent lower reach of the Tocantins River. The Pará river estuary alone is 60 km (37 mi) wide. The Pará and the Amazon are connected by a series of river channels called furos near the town of Breves; between them lies Marajó, an island almost the size of Switzerland that is the world's largest combined river/sea island.
If the Pará river and the Marajó island ocean frontage are included, the Amazon estuary is some 330 kilometres (210 mi) wide. In this case, the width of the mouth of the river is usually measured from Cabo Norte, in the Brazilian state of Amapá, to Ponta da Tijoca near the town of Curuçá, in the state of Pará. By this criterion, the Amazon is wider at its mouth than the entire length of the Thames in England.

A more conservative measurement excluding the Pará river estuary, from the mouth of the Araguari River to Ponta do Navio on the northern coast of Marajó, would still give the mouth of the Amazon a width of over 180 kilometres (110 mi). If only the river's main channel is considered, between the islands of Curuá (state of Amapá) and Jurupari (state of Pará), the width falls to just about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) - but that is still impressive for any river.

Tidal bore
The tension between the river's strong push and the Atlantic tides causes a phenomenon called a tidal bore, a powerful tidal wave that flows rapidly inland from the sea up the Amazon mouth and nearby coastal rivers several times a year at high tide. Tidal bores also occur in other river mouths around the world, but the Amazon's are among the world's highest and fastest, probably second only to those of Qiantang River in China. In the Amazon, the phenomenon is locally known as the pororoca.

The pororoca occurs especially where depths do not exceed 7 metres (23 ft). It starts with a very loud roar, constantly increasing, and advances at the rate of 15–25 km/h (9–16 mph), with a breaking wall of water 1.5–4.0-metres (5–13 ft) high that may travel violently several kilometres up the Amazon and other rivers close to its mouth. It is particularly intense in the rivers of the coast of the state of Amapá north of the mouth of the Amazon, such as the Araguari River, but can be observed in Pará rivers as well.
The bore is the reason the Amazon does not have a protruding delta; the ocean rapidly carries away the vast volume of silt carried by the Amazon, making it impossible for a delta to grow past the shoreline.[clarification needed] The region also has very high tides, sometimes reaching 6 metres (20 ft) and has become a popular spot for river surfing.[7]
Wildlife
More than one-third of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest,[8] a giant tropical forest and river basin with an area that stretches more than 5.4 million square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi) and is among the richest tropical forests in the world. The Amazon River has over 3,000 recognized species of fish and that number is still growing. Some estimates go as high as 5,000.

Characins such as piranha species are prey for the Giant Otter, but these aggressive fish may also pose a danger.Along with the Orinoco, the river is one of the main habitats of the boto, also known as the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). The largest species of river dolphin, it can grow to lengths of up to 2.6 metres (8.5 ft). The boto is the subject of a very famous legend in Brazil, about a dolphin that turns into a man and seduces maidens by the riverside. The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) is a dolphin found both in the rivers of the Amazon Basin and in the coastal waters of South America.
Also present in large numbers are the notorious piranha, carnivorous fish which congregate in large schools, and may attack livestock and even humans. However, only a few species attack humans, and many are solely fish-eaters, and do not school.
The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) has been reported 4,000 km (2,500 mi) up the Amazon River at Iquitos in Peru. The arapaima, known in Brazil as pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) is a South American tropical freshwater fish. It is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, reportedly with a maximum length in excess of 3 m (9.8 ft) and weight up to 200 kg (440 lb).Another Amazonian freshwater fish is the arowana (or aruanã in Brazil) (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) which is also a predator and very similar to the arapaima, but reaches a length of maximum 120 centimetres. The candirú are a number of genera of parasitic freshwater catfish in the family Trichomycteridae; all are native to the Amazon River. It sometimes attacks humans and has been known to enter the urethras of bathers.The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) is found in the Amazon River basin.

The anaconda snake is found in shallow waters in the Amazon basin. One of the world's largest species of snake, the anaconda spends most of its time in the water, with just its nostrils above the surface.

The river supports thousands of species of fish, as well as crabs, algae, and turtles.
Colonial encounters with the Amazon
See also: Timeline of Amazon history
During what many archaeologists call the formative period, Amazonian societies were deeply involved in the emergence of South America's highland agrarian systems, and possibly contributed directly to the social and religious fabric constitutive of the Andean civilizational orders.

In 1500, Vicente Yañez Pinzón was the first European to sail into the river. Pinzón called the river flow Río Santa María del Mar Dulce, later shortened to Mar Dulce (literally, sweet sea, because of its freshwater pushing out into the ocean). For 350 years after the first European encounter of the Amazon by Pinzón, the Portuguese portion of the basin remained an untended former food gathering and planned agricultural landscape occupied by the indigenous peoples who survived the arrival of European diseases. There is ample evidence for complex large-scale, pre-Columbian social formations, including chiefdoms, in many areas of Amazonia (particularly the inter-fluvial regions) and even large towns and cities.For instance the pre-Columbian culture on the island of Marajo may have developed social stratification and supported a population of 100,000 people.The Native Americans of the Amazon rain forest may have used Terra preta to make the land suitable for the large scale agriculture needed to support large populations and complex social formations such as chiefdoms.
One of Gonzalo Pizarro's lieutenants, Francisco de Orellana, during his 1541 expedition, east of Quito into the South American interior in search of El Dorado and the Country of the Cinnamon was ordered to explore the Coca River and return when the river ended. When they arrived to the confluence to the Napo River, his men menaced to mutiny if they did not continue. On 26 December 1541, he accepted to be elected chief of the new expedition and to conquest new lands in name of the king. The 49 men began to build a bigger ship for riverine navigation. During their navigation on Napo River they were threatened constantly by the Omaguas. They reached Negro River on 3 June 1542 and finally arrived to the Amazon River, that was so named because they were allegedly attacked by fierce female warriors like the mythological Amazons. The Icamiaba natives dominated the area close to the Amazon River, rich in gold. When Orellana went down the river in search of gold, descending from the Andes (in 1541), the Amazon was called Grande Río ("Large River"), Mar Dulce ("Sweet[water] Sea") or Río de la Canela ("Cinnamon River," because of the great cinnamon trees that Orellana claimed to have found there - in spite of cinnamon being an Asian plant impossible to be found growing in the wild in 16th-century South America). Orellana narrated the belligerent victory of the Icamiaba women against the Spanish invaders to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who, inspired by the Greek Amazons, baptized the river as Amazonas, the name by which it is still known in both Spanish and Portuguese.
In 1637–38 the Portuguese explorer Pedro Teixeira was the first European to ascend the river from Belém (near the mouth of the Amazon) to Quito, part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, and then to return the same way. Teixeira's expedition was massive - some 2000 people in 37 large canoes. From 1648 to 1652, António Raposo Tavares lead one of the longest known expeditions from São Paulo to the mouth of the Amazon, investigating many of its tributaries, including the Rio Negro, and covering a distance of more than 10,000 km (6,214 mi).

In what is currently Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela, a number of colonial and religious settlements were established along the banks of primary rivers and tributaries for the purpose of trade, slaving and evangelization among the indigenous peoples of the vast rain forest. Father Fritz, apostle of the Omaguas, established some forty mission villages. Charles Marie de La Condamine accomplished the first scientific exploration of the Amazon River.

The Cabanagem, one of the bloodiest regional wars ever in Brazil, which was chiefly directed against the white ruling class, reduced the population of Pará from about 100,000 to 60,000.
The total population of the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps 300,000, of whom about two-thirds comprised by Europeans and slaves, the slaves amounting to about 25,000. The Brazilian Amazon's principal commercial city, Pará (now Belém), had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves. The town of Manáos, now Manaus, at the mouth of the Rio Negro, had a population between 1,000 to 1,500. All the remaining villages, as far up as Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier of Peru, were relatively small.

Post-colonial history
On 6 September 1850, the emperor, Pedro II, sanctioned a law authorizing steam navigation on the Amazon, and gave the Viscount of Mauá (Irineu Evangelista de Sousa) the task of putting it into effect. He organized the "Companhia de Navegação e Comércio do Amazonas" in Rio de Janeiro in 1852; and in the following year it commenced operations with three small steamers, the Monarch, the Marajó and Rio Negro.

Henry Walter Bates was most famous for his expedition to the Amazon (1848–1859).At first, navigation was principally confined to the main river; and even in 1857 a modification of the government contract only obliged the company to a monthly service between Pará and Manaus, with steamers of 200 tons cargo capacity, a second line to make six round voyages a year between Manaus and Tabatinga, and a third, two trips a month between Pará and Cametá. This was the first step in opening up the vast interior.

The success of the venture called attention to the opportunities for economic exploitation of the Amazon, and a second company soon opened commerce on the Madeira, Purus and Negro; a third established a line between Pará and Manaus; and a fourth found it profitable to navigate some of the smaller streams. In that same period, the Amazonas Company was increasing its fleet. Meanwhile, private individuals were building and running small steam craft of their own on the main river as well as on many of its tributaries.

On 31 July 1867 the government of Brazil, constantly pressed by the maritime powers and by the countries encircling the upper Amazon basin, especially Peru, decreed the opening of the Amazon to all flags; but limited this to certain defined points: Tabatinga — on the Amazon; Cametá — on the Tocantins; Santarém — on the Tapajós; Borba — on the Madeira, and Manaus — on the Rio Negro. The Brazilian decree took effect on 7 September 1867.

Thanks in part to the mercantile development associated with steam boat navigation, coupled with the internationally driven demand for natural rubber (1880-1920), Manáos (now Manaus) and Pará (now Belém) in (Brazil), and Iquitos, Peru became thriving, cosmopolitan centers of commerce and spectacular — albeit illusory —"modern" "urban growth". This was particularly the case for Iquitos during its late 19th and early 20th century Rubber Bonanza zenith when this dynamic boomtown was known abroad as the St. Louis of the Amazon.

The first direct foreign trade with Manaus was commenced around 1874. Local trade along the river was carried on by the English successors to the Amazonas Company — the Amazon Steam Navigation Company — as well as numerous small steamboats, belonging to companies and firms engaged in the rubber trade, navigating the Negro, Madeira, Purus and many other tributaries, such as the Marañón to ports as distant as Nauta, Peru. The Amazon Steam Navigation Company had 38 vessels.
By the turn of the 20th century, the principal exports of the Amazon Basin were India-rubber, cacao, Brazil nuts and a few other products of minor importance, such as pelts and exotic forest produce (resins, barks, woven hammocks, prized bird feathers, live animals, etc.) and extracted goods (lumber, gold, etc.).
20th century concerns
Four centuries after the European discovery of the Amazon river, the total cultivated area in its basin was probably less than 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi), excluding the limited and crudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters. This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century.
Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon valley, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the dark Rio Negro and the muddy Amazon River.Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation's resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was President Getúlio Vargas, the demand for rubber from the Allied forces in World War II providing funding for the drive.

The construction of the new capital city of Brasilia in the interior in 1960 also contributed to the opening up of the Amazon basin. A large-scale colonization program saw families from Northeastern Brazil relocated to the forests, encouraged by promises of cheap land. Many settlements grew along the road from Brasilia to Belém, but rainforest soil proved difficult to cultivate.
Still, long-term development plans continued. Roads were cut through the forests, and in 1970, the work on the Trans-Amazonian highway (Transamazônica) network began. The network's three pioneering highways were completed within ten years, but never fulfilled their promise, large portions of the Trans-Amazonian and accessory roads such as BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) being derelict and impassable in the rainy season.

With a current population of 1.8 million people, Manaus is the Amazon’s largest city. Manaus alone represents approximately 50% of the population of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, which is the largest state. The racial makeup of the city is 64% Pardo (Mulatto and mestizo) and 32% White.
Dispute regarding length

While debate as to whether the Amazon or the Nile is the world's longest river has gone on for many years, the historic consensus of geographic authorities has been to regard the Amazon as the second longest river in the world, with the Nile being the longest. However, the Amazon has been measured by different geographers as being anywhere between 6,259 and 6,800 kilometres (3,889–4,225 mi) long. The Nile is reported to be anywhere from 5,499 to 6,690 kilometres (3,417–4,157 mi). The differences in these measurements often result from the use of different definitions.

A study by Brazilian scientists claimed that the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile. Using Nevado Mismi, which in 2001 was labeled by the National Geographic Society as the Amazon's source, these scientists have made new calculations of the Amazon's length. They now estimate that the Amazon is 105 kilometres (65 mi) longer than the Nile,and Guido Gelli, director of science at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), told the Brazilian TV network Globo in June 2007 that it could be considered as a fact that the Amazon was the longest river in the world. However, other geographers have had access to the same data since 2001, and a consensus has yet to emerge to support the claims of these Brazilian scientists.