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The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.〔Goulding, M., Barthem, R. B. and Duenas, R. (2003). ''The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon'', Smithsonian Books ISBN 1-58834-135-6〕 Most of the basin is covered by the Amazon Rainforest, also known as Amazonia. With a area of dense tropical forest, this is the largest rainforest in the world. == Geography == The Amazon basin is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north and the Brazilian Highlands to the south. The Amazon River, which rises in the Andes Mountains at the west of the basin, is usually considered to be the second longest river in the world. However, a team of Brazilian scientists claim that the Amazon is the longest river in the world. It covers about 6,400 km before draining into the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon and its tributaries form the largest volume of water. The Amazon accounts for about 20% of the total water carried to the oceans by rivers. Some of the Amazon rainforest is deforested because of the increasing of cattle ranches and soy beans field. The highest point in the watershed of the Amazon is the peak of Yerupajá at 6,635 m (21,768 ft). The Amazon basin formerly flowed west to Pacific Ocean until the Andes formed, causing the basin to flow eastward towards the Atlantic Ocean. Politically the basin is divided into the Brazilian Amazônia Legal, the Peruvian Amazon, the Amazon region of Colombia and parts of Bolivia, Ecuador and the Venezuelan state of Amazonas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Amazon basin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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