Manaus, Brazil, emerged as
an important port city in the nineteenth century during the rubber boom.
Today, with more than 1.7 million inhabitants, it is the largest city
in the Amazon Basin. It is located on the banks of the Rio Negro (darker,
to the left) at that river's confluence with the Amazon River (lighter,
to the right). Although it is 1450 kilometers upstream from the Atlantic
Ocean, Manaus remains an important port city for oceangoing vessels. It
currently exports rubber, Brazil nuts, lumber, and various fruits. Recent
discoveries of oil and manganese (used in steel production) may further
invigorate its economy. Surrounding this city for hundreds of kilometers
in all directions is dense rainforest. Because there are no bridges spanning
the rivers in the vicinity of Manaus, ships are used to transport goods
across these rivers.
this is about deforestation!!
Young Ik Kim
The Amazon rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonia), also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), of which five and a half million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, and with minor amounts in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
