The River and the Rainforest
The Amazon River is the mighty waterway that flows through the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. The two are so closely linked that it is hard to think of one without the other. The rainforest takes its very name from the river, and the river in turn is fed and shaped by the dense forest around it. Together they form one of the most important natural systems on the entire planet.
A River of Staggering Power
What makes the Amazon truly extraordinary is the sheer amount of water it carries. It moves more water than any other river on Earth, by an enormous margin. In fact, the Amazon discharges more water than the next several largest rivers in the world combined. So much fresh water pours out of its mouth that it actually pushes back the salty ocean water for many kilometers out into the Atlantic. It begins high in the Andes Mountains of Peru and travels thousands of kilometers eastward across the continent.
A Living Highway
For the people and wildlife of the rainforest, the Amazon is far more than scenery. In a region with few roads, the river and its many tributaries act as natural highways. Boats carry people and goods between remote towns and villages that would otherwise be almost impossible to reach. The river also teems with life, home to thousands of fish species, along with river dolphins, caimans, and other creatures found nowhere else.
One Forest, Many Countries
While the rainforest is often called the Brazilian rainforest, and the largest share of it does lie within Brazil, the forest and the river system actually stretch across several South American countries. The Amazon basin reaches into Peru, Colombia, and others. This vast green expanse represents more than half of all the rainforest remaining on Earth, which is why protecting it has become a global concern.
Source
This article was written using information from Wikipedia.