Attention, jungle explorers! Get ready for an incredible voyage into the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, where miracles await! This beautiful green world is more than just trees and vines; it’s a treasure mine of amazing facts that will leave you speechless. The Amazon Rainforest is Mother Nature’s greatest show-off, from global oxygen generation to hidden tree conversations. Let’s explore some of the most amazing facts about the amazon rainforest, that we’re sure will fascinate you!
10 Amazon Rainforest Facts:
1. Origin of name:
The title ‘Amazon’ was given by Spanish explorer Francisco Orellana after he was ambushed by female warriors known as Icamiabas, or ‘women without husbands’ while exploring the region. He compared them to Greek mythology’s Amazons.
2. Size
If the Amazon rainforest were a country, it would be the 14th largest in the entire globe, covering 5.5 million km2, making it bigger than Mexico and just slightly smaller than Saudi Arabia.
2. Natives
The Amazon is a residence for many local tribes, and their traditional ways of life and sources of livelihood often depend on the forest.
4. Medicines
Although rainforest-based chemicals are used in 25% of all Western medications, scientists have only evaluated less than 1% of the Amazon’s trees and medicinal plants.
5. Plants
It is habitat to an estimated 40,000 plant species, including 16,000 different types of native trees. In fact, one hectare of rainforest can support over 500 different tree species and 1,500 different plant species.
6. Species
The Amazon is home to an approximate 30% of the world’s species, with a new species identified every three days on average. It is home to 3,000 distinct kinds of fish, 2.5 million bug species, and one-fifth of all identified bird species.
7. Deadly species
Electric eels, flesh-eating piranhas, poison dart frogs, jaguars, and some very venomous snakes are among the interesting, and deadly species found in the Amazon.
8. Rain
The Amazon floor is always gloomy due to the thickness of the canopy (the top branches and leaves of the trees). In fact, it’s so thick that when it rains, the water takes roughly ten minutes to reach the ground!
9. Distinction
While Amazon deforestation has slowed in recent years, rates in 2020 were the greatest in a decade, with 11,088 square kilometers lost in one year in Brazil, an area roughly seven times the size of London. It is estimated that humans are wiping out more than 137 species every day!
10. The River
The Amazon River is by far the world’s greatest river as a matter of size, carrying more than five times the Congo or twelve times the Mississippi. In 2007, a man named Martin Strel swam the whole length of the Amazon River! Martin powered through the water for up to ten hours per day for 66 days to complete his splashing rainforest excursion.
Jungle explorers, we hope these amazing facts about the Amazon Rainforest amazed you. There’s so much more to discover in the world, and we can’t wait to share more fascinating facts about it with you soon!
