The Amazon Rain Forest is the Biggest Forest in the World. And because plants and trees supply our atmosphere with the oxygen all animals need to stay alive, this huge forest is very important to all of us.
The Amazon rain forest supplies one-fifth of the world’s oxygen. It is often called the “Lungs of the World”. It is from the rain that soaks these forests that the huge Amazon River gathers its waters.
Ten feet of rain a year can fall over this huge area, three times the water that falls on Philadelphia or Chicago. One thousand rain-forest rivers join the Amazon on its 4,000-mile journey to the Atlantic.
Seventeen of these rivers are over 1000 miles long, and at least two of them are bigger than the Mississippi. One of these is the Amazon River.
How many people live in this part of the world, which is half the size of the United States? Only 7 million in all of the 2.5 million square miles. Fewer than the number of people who live in New York City.
