Mountains, Rivers and Rain Forest
Thousands upon thousands of small streams flow down the eastern side of the Andes Mountains until they merge to form rivers. Those rivers tumble through Andean valleys and join with other rivers where the valleys intersect. The larger rivers that are formed rush down the mountains till they reach the western edge of the Amazon Rain Forest. From there, the large rivers, now wide and slow-flowing, meander their way through the forest till they join the giant Amazon River, which, in turn, flows across the continent and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon River system, the largest river system in the world and the life source of the Amazon Rain Forest, then, starts in the Andes Mountains. (Note: The Nile is the world's longest river world, but the Amazon is a bigger system of rivers.)
Note: There are five photos in the slideshow on this page.
English-Spanish Cognates
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Photographs taken by Lilia Cai
and Paul Hurteau.
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