The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world, after the River Nile which is in Africa. It is the mightiest river in the world and has the greatest volume of water of any river. It also has the largest drainage basin. The Amazon is in South America, and stretches 6,437 kilometers from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. It holds more water than the Mississippi, Nile, and Yangtze Rivers together. The name "Amazon" comes from Greek mythology. The first European to sail the Amazon River in the 16th century, Francisco de Orellano, saw long-haired warriors on the river and thought they were women, so he named the river after the female "Amazon" warriors in Greek mythology.

亞馬孫河是世界上流域面積最廣、流量最大的河流。它全長約6，437公里，略短于尼羅河，居世界第二。亞馬孫河位于南美洲中北部，發(fā)源于秘魯安第斯山脈，自西向東貫穿亞馬孫平原，每年注入大西洋的水量相當于世界河流注入大洋總量的六分之一，比密西西比河、尼羅河和長江流入大洋的總量都要多。據(jù)記載，“亞馬孫”的名字是16世紀西班牙探險家弗朗西斯科·奧雷利亞納所起，因為他把沿河看到的長發(fā)戰(zhàn)士誤認為是女子，于是就以希臘神話中女戰(zhàn)士的稱呼“亞馬孫”命名這條河。