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81-507: Nueva Loja is located in central Sucumbíos, in the Amazonian forest , and is one of the most important cities in northeastern Ecuador. Its importance comes from the oil extraction . It was originally named after the town of Sour Lake , Texas by Texaco when the company established the oil-producing settlement. Lago Agrio is Spanish for "Sour Lake". The official name of the Ecuadorian town

162-577: A brigantine , the San Pedro , was constructed to ferry the sick and supplies. Gonzalo Pizarro ordered him to explore the Coca River and return after finding the river's end. When they arrived at the confluence with the Napo River , his men threatened to mutiny if they did not continue. On 26 December 1541, he agreed to be elected chief of the new expedition and conquer new lands in the king's name. Orellana (with

243-659: A warlike tribe that expanded along the Tapajós river and its tributaries and were feared by neighboring tribes. In the early 19th century, the Munduruku were pacified and subjugated by the Brazilians. During the Amazon rubber boom it is estimated that diseases brought by immigrants, such as typhus and malaria , killed 40,000 native Amazonians. In the 1950s, Brazilian explorer and defender of indigenous people, Cândido Rondon , supported

324-706: A complex civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s. The Pre-Columbian agriculture in the Amazon Basin was sufficiently advanced to support prosperous and populous societies. It is believed that civilization was later devastated by the spread of diseases from Europe, such as smallpox . This civilization was investigated by the British explorer Percy Fawcett in the early twentieth century. The results of his expeditions were inconclusive, and he disappeared mysteriously on his last trip. His name for this lost civilization

405-475: A farm some cattle, pigs, and chickens, which he salted. In the open sea, he waylaid a caravel and looted its supplies. At the end of May, he reached Tenerife and spent three months there putting his ships in order. He then sailed to the Cape Verde Islands where an epidemic killed 98 of his men and 50 or 60 deserted. With this loss, he abandoned one of his ships after salvaging what he could. He left about

486-646: A friendly way and made him an offer to go back to the Amazon under a Portuguese flag. Orellana's exploration produced an international issue. According to the Treaty of Tordesillas , the majority of the Amazon River should belong to Spain. However, the mouth should be ruled by Portugal. Orellana refused the Portuguese offer and went to Valladolid . After nine months of negotiations, Prince Philip II appointed him governor of New Andalusia on February 13, 1544. After captivating

567-422: A hazard. Among the largest predatory creatures are the black caiman , jaguar , cougar , and anaconda . In the river, electric eels can produce an electric shock that can stun or kill, while piranha are known to bite and injure humans. Various species of poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins through their flesh. There are also numerous parasites and disease vectors. Vampire bats dwell in

648-433: A long time, it was thought that the Amazon rainforest was never more than sparsely populated, as it was impossible to sustain a large population through agriculture given the poor soil. Archeologist Betty Meggers was a prominent proponent of this idea, as described in her book Amazonia: Man and Culture in a Counterfeit Paradise . She claimed that a population density of 0.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (0.52/sq mi)

729-776: A second expedition on the Amazon. Born in Trujillo in western Spain (various birth dates, ranging from 1490 to 1511, are still quoted by biographers), Orellana was a close friend and possibly a relative of Francisco Pizarro , the Trujillo-born conquistador of Peru (his cousin, according to some historians). He traveled to the New World (probably in 1527). Orellana served in Nicaragua until joining Pizarro's army in Peru in 1533, where he supported Pizarro in his conflict with Diego de Almagro (1538). After

810-677: Is Nueva Loja . Its current name originates from the fact that the first colonizers came from the Southern Province of Loja. The area around the city, the Lago Agrio oil field , has many ecological problems. The rainforest has been all but obliterated in this region and environmental degradation is severe, with catastrophic oil pollution in some areas. On February 14, 2011, a judge in Lago Agrio ruled that Chevron , now owner of Texaco, had to pay $ 9 billion in environmental damages for polluting

891-774: Is believed that the drainage basin of the Amazon was split along the middle of the continent by the Purus Arch . Water on the eastern side flowed toward the Atlantic , while to the west water flowed toward the Pacific across the Amazonas Basin . As the Andes Mountains rose, however, a large basin was created that enclosed a lake; now known as the Solimões Basin . Within the last 5–10 million years, this accumulating water broke through

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972-519: Is considerable, and areas cleared of forest are visible to the naked eye from outer space. In the 1970s, construction began on the Trans-Amazonian highway . This highway represented a major threat to the Amazon rainforest. The highway still has not been completed, limiting the environmental damage. Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km (160,000 to 227,000 sq mi), with most of

1053-426: Is estimated at 356 ± 47 tonnes per hectare. To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or catalogued. The total number of tree species in the region is estimated at 16,000. The green leaf area of plants and trees in the rainforest varies by about 25% as a result of seasonal changes. Leaves expand during

1134-571: Is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. The main sources of deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and the development of the land. In 2022, about 20% of the Amazon rainforest has already been deforested and a further 6% was "highly degraded". Research suggests that upon reaching about 20–25% (hence 0–5% more), the tipping point to flip it into a non-forest ecosystem – degraded savannah – (in eastern, southern and central Amazonia) will be reached. This process of savanisation would take decades to take full effect. Prior to

1215-638: Is the maximum that can be sustained in the rainforest through hunting, with agriculture needed to host a larger population. However, recent anthropological findings have suggested that the region was actually densely populated. The Upano Valley sites in present-day eastern Ecuador predate all known complex Amazonian societies. Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in AD 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó , and inland dwellers. Based on projections of food production, one estimate suggests over 8 million people living in

1296-455: The Amazons of Greek mythology , described by Herodotus and Diodorus . Based on archaeological evidence from an excavation at Caverna da Pedra Pintada , human inhabitants first settled in the Amazon region at least 11,200 years ago. Subsequent development led to late-prehistoric settlements along the periphery of the forest by AD 1250, which induced alterations in the forest cover . For

1377-521: The Eocene era (from 56 million years to 33.9 million years ago). It appeared following a global reduction of tropical temperatures when the Atlantic Ocean had widened sufficiently to provide a warm, moist climate to the Amazon basin. The rainforest has been in existence for at least 55 million years, and most of the region remained free of savanna -type biomes at least until the current ice age when

1458-708: The Peruvian Amazon ), indigenous peoples ' rainforest communities continue to disappear, while others, like the Urarina continue to struggle to fight for their cultural survival and the fate of their forested territories. Meanwhile, the relationship between non-human primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American peoples has gained increased attention, as have ethno-biology and community-based conservation efforts. Francisco de Orellana Francisco de Orellana ( Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ðe oɾeˈʝana] ; 1511 – November 1546)

1539-566: The South Equatorial Current to the Spanish base at Margarita Island west of Trinidad. After Orellana left the shipwreck camp, the 28 or 30 men there began building a boat from the wrecked ship, which took more than three months. The boat was ill-built and leaky. Some indigenous people guided them to "a place where the Amazon splits into three arms". Finding no sign of Orellana, they went downriver. Ten men jumped ship, preferring life with

1620-565: The Villas-Bôas brothers ' campaign, which faced strong opposition from the government and the ranchers of Mato Grosso and led to the establishment of the first Brazilian National Park for indigenous people along the Xingu River in 1961. In 1961, British explorer Richard Mason was killed by an uncontacted Amazon tribe known as the Panará . The Matsés made their first permanent contact with

1701-528: The rainforest . This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 indigenous territories . The majority of the forest, 60%, is in Brazil , followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Bolivia , Ecuador , French Guiana , Guyana , Suriname , and Venezuela . Four nations have " Amazonas " as the name of one of their first-level administrative regions , and France uses

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1782-434: The release of the carbon contained within the vegetation, which could accelerate global warming . Amazonian evergreen forests account for about 10% of the world's terrestrial primary productivity and 10% of the carbon stores in ecosystems – of the order of 1.1 × 10 metric tonnes of carbon. Amazonian forests are estimated to have accumulated 0.62 ± 0.37 tons of carbon per hectare per year between 1975 and 1996. In 2021 it

1863-459: The 1540s. It is believed that the civilization was later devastated by the spread of smallpox and other diseases from Europe . The evidence to support this claim comes from the discovery of numerous geoglyphs dating from between 1 and 1250 AD, and terra preta resulting from indigenous activities. Some five million people may have lived in the Amazon region in 1500 in dense riverbank settlements such as that at Marajó , and inland. By 1900

1944-461: The 2000s. Oil companies have to set up their operations by opening new roads through the forests, which often contributes to deforestation in the region. 9.4% of the territory of the Amazon is affected by oil fields. Mining is also a major driver of deforestation. 17% of the area of the Amazon Rainforest is affected by mining. The transition to solar and wind energy, digitalization, raised

2025-455: The Amazon in 1492. By 1900, the native indigenous population had fallen to 1 million and by the early 1980s it was less than 200,000. The first European to travel the length of the Amazon River was Francisco de Orellana in 1542. The BBC's Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Orellana, rather than exaggerating his claims as previously thought, was correct in his observations that

2106-516: The Amazon rainforest are probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as has previously been supposed. In the region of the Xingu tribe, remains of some of these large settlements in the middle of the Amazon forest were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida . Among those were evidence of roads, bridges and large plazas. In

2187-704: The Amazon rainforest comes from the Bodélé depression in Northern Chad in the Sahara desert. The dust contains phosphorus , important for plant growth. The yearly Sahara dust replaces the equivalent amount of phosphorus washed away yearly in Amazon soil from rains and floods. NASA's CALIPSO satellite has measured the amount of dust transported by wind from the Sahara to the Amazon: an average of 182 million tons of dust are windblown out of

2268-532: The Amazon rainforest could become unsustainable under conditions of severely reduced rainfall and increased temperatures, leading to an almost complete loss of rainforest cover in the basin by 2100., and severe economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of not averting the tipping point. However, simulations of Amazon basin climate change across many different models are not consistent in their estimation of any rainfall response, ranging from weak increases to strong decreases. The result indicates that

2349-460: The Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness , has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening and terra preta . Terra preta is found over large areas in the Amazon forest; and is now widely accepted as a product of indigenous soil management . The development of this fertile soil allowed agriculture and silviculture in the previously hostile environment; meaning that large portions of

2430-561: The Amazon region. In August 2019 there were a record number of fires. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose more than 88% in June 2019 compared with the same month in 2018. The increased area of fire-impacted forest coincided with a relaxation of environmental regulations from the Brazilian government. Notably, before those regulations were put in place in 2008 the fire-impacted area

2511-481: The Amazon, which are subdivided into 9 different national political systems and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories . Indigenous peoples make up 9% of the total population, and 60 of the groups remain largely isolated. Large scale deforestation is occurring in the forest, creating different harmful effects. Economic losses due to deforestation in Brazil could be approximately 7 times higher in comparison to

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2592-759: The Amazonas, there has been fighting and wars between the neighboring tribes of the Jivaro . Several tribes of the Jivaroan group, including the Shuar , practised headhunting for trophies and headshrinking . The accounts of missionaries to the area in the borderlands between Brazil and Venezuela have recounted constant infighting in the Yanomami tribes. More than a third of the Yanomamo males, on average, died from warfare. The Munduruku were

2673-520: The Dominican Gaspar de Carvajal who chronicled the expedition) and 50 men set off downstream to find food. Unable to return against the current, Orellana waited for Pizarro, finally sending back three men with a message, and started constructing a second brigantine, the Victoria . Pizarro had in the meantime returned to Quito by a more northerly route, by then with only 80 men left alive. After leaving

2754-611: The Purus Arch, joining the easterly flow toward the Atlantic. There is evidence that there have been significant changes in the Amazon rainforest vegetation over the last 21,000 years through the last glacial maximum (LGM) and subsequent deglaciation. Analyses of sediment deposits from Amazon basin paleolakes and the Amazon Fan indicate that rainfall in the basin during the LGM was lower than for

2835-717: The Rio de la Trinidad (possibly the Rio Juruá ), the Pueblo Vicioso, the Rio Negro (named by Orellana), the Pueblo del Corpus, the Pueblo de los Quemados, and the Pueblo de la Calle at about 57°W. There they entered the territory of the Pira-tapuya . The name 'Amazon' is said to arise from a battle Francisco de Orellana fought with a tribe of Tapuyas. The women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as

2916-581: The Sahara each year (some dust falls into the Atlantic), 15% of which of falls over the Amazon basin (22 million tons of it consisting of phosphorus). CALIPSO uses a laser range finder to scan the Earth's atmosphere for the vertical distribution of dust and other aerosols. and regularly tracks the Sahara-Amazon dust plume. CALIPSO has measured variations in the dust amounts transported – an 86 percent drop between

2997-478: The Spanish court with tales and alleged exaggerations of his voyage down the Amazon, Orellana obtained a commission to conquer and settle Nueva Andalucia. The charter established that he should explore and settle the Amazonian lands with 300 men and 100 horses, and found two cities, one in the mouth and another in the basin's interior, Manaus . The commission was accepted on 18 February 1544. However, preparations for

3078-407: The area and so the lower the yield per hectare becomes. So despite the popular perception, there has been no economical advantage for Brazil from logging rainforest zones and converting these to pastoral fields. The needs of soy farmers have been used to justify many of the controversial transportation projects that are currently developing in the Amazon. The first two highways successfully opened up

3159-550: The arrival of a Portuguese spy fleet at Seville. On reaching Sanlucar he was detained again, the authorities having discovered a shortfall in his complement of men and horses, and that large numbers of his crew were not Spanish. On 11 May 1545, Orellana (in hiding on one of his vessels) surreptitiously sailed out of Sanlucar with four ships and disappeared from view. On 11 May 1545, he left Spain with four ships, supplies to build two riverboats, perhaps 300 men, at least 24 horses, and his young wife. Before leaving land, he obtained from

3240-471: The climate was drier and savanna more widespread. Following the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , the extinction of the dinosaurs and the wetter climate may have allowed the tropical rainforest to spread out across the continent. From 66 to 34 Mya , the rainforest extended as far south as 45° . Climate fluctuations during the last 34 million years have allowed savanna regions to expand into

3321-504: The cost of all commodities produced through deforestation. In 2023, the World Bank published a report proposing a non-deforestation based economic program in the region. The name Amazon is said to arise from a war Francisco de Orellana fought with the Tapuyas and other tribes. The women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was their custom. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from

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3402-538: The demand for cassiterite (the main ore of tin used also for financing gold mining ), manganese and copper , which attracrted many illegal miners to the Amazon. This led to deforestation, different environmental and social problems. Hydropower also creates significant problems in the Amazon. Such activities are defined by the World Rainforest Movement as " Green extractivism ". The European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement , which would form one of

3483-421: The dry season when sunlight is at a maximum, then undergo abscission in the cloudy wet season. These changes provide a balance of carbon between photosynthesis and respiration. Each hectare of the Amazon rainforest contains around 1 billion of invertebrates . The amount of species per hectare in the Amazon rainforest can be presented in the next table: The rainforest contains several species that can pose

3564-591: The early 1960s, access to the forest's interior was highly restricted, and the forest remained basically intact. Farms established during the 1960s were based on crop cultivation and the slash and burn method. However, the colonists were unable to manage their fields and the crops because of the loss of soil fertility and weed invasion. The soils in the Amazon are productive for just a short period of time, so farmers are constantly moving to new areas and clearing more land. These farming practices led to deforestation and caused extensive environmental damage. Deforestation

3645-558: The highest amount of dust transported in 2007 and the lowest in 2011. This is possibly causing by rainfall variations is the Sahel , a strip of semi-arid land on the southern border of the Sahara.. Amazon phosphorus also comes as smoke due to biomass burning in Africa. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome , and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than

3726-528: The junction with the River Madeira. At about 54°W they stopped for 18 days to repair the boats, and finally reached the Atlantic Ocean on 26 August 1542, and checked the boats for seaworthiness. While coasting toward Guiana , the brigs were separated until reunited at Nueva Cadiz on Cubagua island off the coast of Venezuela. The Victoria , carrying Orellana and Carvajal, passed south around Trinidad and

3807-400: The lost forest becoming pasture for cattle. Seventy percent of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, have been used for livestock pasture . Currently, Brazil is the largest global producer of soybeans . New research however, conducted by Leydimere Oliveira et al., has shown that the more rainforest is logged in the Amazon, the less precipitation reaches

3888-473: The middle of November. The crossing was difficult, and one of his ships became separated and was never seen again. With it went 77 men, 11 horses, and supplies to build one riverboat. He lost several anchors and had to replace them with cannons. He reached the Brazil coast, sailed a hundred leagues until he found fresh water in the sea, which he assumed came from the Amazon. He landed on 20 December 1545 with two ships, 11 thin horses, and perhaps 100 men. Since

3969-525: The movie, but he was ultimately left out. De Orellana's role in the search for El Dorado also forms part of the plot of the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). William Ospina 's 2008 novel El país de la canela ( The Cinnamon Country ) includes a novelized version of Orellana's trip. One of the campaigns of Age of Empires II: The Forgotten is called El Dorado and

4050-404: The name " Guiana Amazonian Park " for French Guiana's protected rainforest area. The Amazon represents over half of the total area of remaining rainforests on Earth , and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees in about 16,000 species. More than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in

4131-425: The natives to a leaking boat. Reaching the sea, the current carried them northwest. In late November, the 18 survivors reached Margarita Island, where they met the other 25 survivors and Orellana's wife. Gaspar de Carvajal , the chaplain of the first expedition, wrote a chronicle Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande que descubrió por muy gran ventura el capitán Francisco de Orellana ( Chronicle of

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4212-424: The natives were friendly and there was plenty of food, his men suggested that they stop and rest and build the riverboat. Orellana overruled them and set off to find the main branch of the Amazon five days later. After sailing more than 300 miles he made camp and started building the riverboat. This took from January to March. They were forced to cannibalize the smaller of the two ships. The natives were hostile, there

4293-517: The new discovery of the famous Great river discovered by great good fortune by Captain Francisco de Orellana ) which was partly reproduced in Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés 's Historia general y natural de las Indias , initially published in 1526 but continually revised until the author's death in 1557, who included in addition statements by Orellana and some of his men. Carvajal's manuscript

4374-498: The outside world in 1969. Before that date, they were effectively at-war with the Peruvian government. Nine countries share the Amazon basin—most of the rainforest, 58.4%, is contained within the borders of Brazil. The other eight countries are Peru with 12.8%, Bolivia with 7.7%, Colombia with 7.1%, Venezuela with 6.1%, Guyana with 3.1%, Suriname with 2.5%, French Guiana with 1.4% and Ecuador with 1%. The rainforest likely formed during

4455-559: The population had fallen to one million, and by the early 1980s it was fewer than 200,000. A modern retelling of Orellana and his crew's epic journey, with source material primarily provided by Carvajal, is written in Buddy Levy's River of Darkness . De Orellana's voyages served as partial inspiration for the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). An earlier script, penned by director Werner Herzog , also deliberately included De Orellana in

4536-411: The present, and this was almost certainly associated with reduced moist tropical vegetation cover in the basin. In present day, the Amazon receives approximately 9 feet of rainfall annually. There is a debate, however, over how extensive this reduction was. Some scientists argue that the rainforest was reduced to small, isolated refugia separated by open forest and grassland; other scientists argue that

4617-438: The rainforest and can spread the rabies virus. Malaria , yellow fever and dengue fever can also be contracted in the Amazon region. The biodiversity in the Amazon is becoming increasingly threatened, primarily by habitat loss from deforestation as well as increased frequency of fires. Over 90% of Amazonian plant and vertebrate species (13,000–14,000 in total) may have been impacted to some degree by fires. Deforestation

4698-464: The rainforest and led to increased settlement and deforestation. The mean annual deforestation rate from 2000 to 2005 (22,392 km or 8,646 sq mi per year) was 18% higher than in the previous five years (19,018 km or 7,343 sq mi per year). Although deforestation declined significantly in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2014, there has been an increase to the present day. Brazil's President, Jair Bolsonaro, has supported

4779-612: The rainforest could be threatened through the 21st century by climate change in addition to deforestation. In 1989, environmentalist C.M. Peters and two colleagues stated there is economic as well as biological incentive to protecting the rainforest. One hectare in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $ 6820 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $ 1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $ 148 if used as cattle pasture. As indigenous territories continue to be destroyed by deforestation and ecocide (such as in

4860-409: The rainforest remained largely intact but extended less far to the north, south, and east than is seen today. This debate has proved difficult to resolve because the practical limitations of working in the rainforest mean that data sampling is biased away from the center of the Amazon basin, and both explanations are reasonably well supported by the available data. More than 56% of the dust fertilizing

4941-714: The rainforest. In 2017, the Superior Court of Justice of Brasil rejected enforcement of the 2013 Ecuadorian Supreme Court award, with the Prosecutor concluding that verdict was “issued in an irregular manner, especially under deplorable acts of corruption.” In 2018 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of Chevron and said the 2013 Ecuador Supreme Court case was obtained "through fraud, bribery and corruption." Manchester United Right Back Antonio Valencia

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5022-593: The region. One in five of all bird species are found in the Amazon rainforest, and one in five of the fish species live in Amazonian rivers and streams. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone. The biodiversity of plant species is the highest on Earth with one 2001 study finding a quarter square kilometer (62 acres) of Ecuadorian rainforest supports more than 1,100 tree species. A study in 1999 found one square kilometer (247 acres) of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants. The average plant biomass

5103-490: The relaxation of regulations placed on agricultural land. He has used his time in office to allow for more deforestation and more exploitation of the Amazon's rich natural resources. Deforestation reached a 15 year high in 2021. Since the discovery of fossil fuel reservoirs in the Amazon rainforest, oil drilling activity has steadily increased, peaking in the Western Amazon in the 1970s and ushering another drilling boom in

5184-401: The shipwreck camp. After nearly a month, he returned to the shipwreck, reporting that he had gone 500 miles and not found the main river. Orellana was now in poor shape, both physically and mentally. He set off again with the boat. Seventeen of his men were wounded by arrows. According to his wife, he died "from illness and grief." The survivors went downriver to the sea where they were driven by

5265-405: The tropics. During the Oligocene , for example, the rainforest spanned a relatively narrow band. It expanded again during the Middle Miocene , then retracted to a mostly inland formation at the last glacial maximum . However, the rainforest still managed to thrive during these glacial periods , allowing for the survival and evolution of a broad diversity of species. During the mid-Eocene , it

5346-467: The victory over De Almagro's men, he was appointed governor of La Culata. He re-established the town of Guayaquil, previously founded by Pizarro and repopulated by Sebastián de Belalcázar . During the civil war, he sided with the Pizarros and was Ensign General of a force sent by Francisco Pizarro from Lima to aid Hernando Pizarro . He was granted land at Puerto Viejo, on the coast of Ecuador. In 1540 Gonzalo Pizarro arrived in Quito as vice governor and

5427-490: The village on the Napo, Orellana continued downstream to the Amazon. The 49 men began to build a bigger ship for river navigation. During their navigation on Napo River, they were threatened constantly by the Omaguas . They reached the Negro River on 3 June 1542 and finally arrived on the Amazon River. At a longitude of about 69°W, Orellana and his men were involved in a skirmish with Machiparo's natives and were chased downstream. Continuing downstream, they consecutively passed

5508-412: The voyage were frustrated by unpaid debts, Portuguese spies, and internal wranglings. Sufficient funds were raised through the efforts of Cosmo de Chaves, Orellana's stepfather. However, the problems were compounded by Orellana's decision to marry a very young and poor girl, Ana de Ayala, whom he intended to take with him (along with her sisters). Orellana's creditors relented and allowed him to sail only on

5589-614: The wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity . One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world . The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species , tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals . To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes , 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in

5670-495: The world's largest free trade areas, has been denounced by environmental activists and indigenous rights campaigners. The fear is that the deal could lead to more deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as it expands market access to Brazilian beef. According to a November 2021 report by Brazil's INPE , based on satellite data , deforestation has increased by 22% over 2020 and is at its highest level since 2006. There were 72,843 fires in Brazil in 2019, with more than half within

5751-405: Was a Spanish explorer and conquistador . In one of the most improbably successful voyages in known history, Orellana managed to sail the length of the Amazon , arriving at the river's mouth on 24 August 1542. He and his party sailed along the Atlantic coast until reaching Cubagua Island , near the coast of Venezuela. Orellana founded the city of Guayaquil in what is now Ecuador, and died during

5832-410: Was also larger compared to the regulation period of 2009–2018. As these fire continue to move closer to the heart of the Amazon basin, their impact on biodiversity will only increase in scale, as the cumulative fire-impacted area is correlated with the number of species impacted. Environmentalists are concerned about loss of biodiversity that will result from destruction of the forest , and also about

5913-626: Was born in Nueva Loja. The city is served by Lago Agrio Airport , with daily flights from/to Quito. Nueva Loja has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round. Amazonian forest The Amazon rainforest , also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia , is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America . This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 6,000,000 km (2,300,000 sq mi) are covered by

5994-470: Was charged by Francisco Pizarro, his older paternal half-brother, with an expedition to locate the "Land of Cinnamon" , thought to be somewhere to the east. Orellana was one of Gonzalo Pizarro 's lieutenants during his 1541 expedition east of Quito into the South American interior. In Quito, Gonzalo Pizarro collected a force of 220 Spaniards and 4000 natives. At the same time, as second in command, Orellana

6075-404: Was little food in the area, and they had to eat all their dogs and horses. Fifty-seven men died. Orellana sent the newly built boat off to find food, but it returned with no food and several men dead of hunger or wounds. He set off with the remaining ship and the riverboat. After traveling 75 miles southeast, the ship was wrecked on a riverbank. Orellana continued with the boat, leaving many men at

6156-462: Was published in 1894 by the Chilean historian José Toribio Medina , preceded by a biography of Carvajal, in his book Descubrimiento del río de las Amazonas . The BBC documentary Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Carvajal's chronicle, rather than being a hugely exaggerated fantasy as previously thought, was correct in its observations that a civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in

6237-414: Was reported that the Amazon for the first time emitted more greenhouse gases than it absorbed. Though often referenced as producing more than a quarter of the Earth's oxygen, this often stated, but misused statistic actually refers to oxygen turnover. The net contribution of the ecosystem is approximately zero. One computer model of future climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions shows that

6318-547: Was sent back to Guayaquil to gather troops and horses. Pizarro left Quito in February 1541, just before Orellana arrived with his 23 men and horses. Orellana hurried after the main expedition, eventually contacting them in March. However, by the time the expedition had left the mountains, 3000 natives and 140 Spanish had died or deserted. On reaching the Coca River (a tributary of the Napo),

6399-447: Was the City of Z . Since the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have been discovered on deforested land dating between AD 1–1250, furthering claims about Pre-Columbian civilizations. Ondemar Dias is accredited with first discovering the geoglyphs in 1977, and Alceu Ranzi is credited with furthering their discovery after flying over Acre . The BBC's Unnatural Histories presented evidence that

6480-638: Was the custom among the tribe. Orellana described the river as "the river of the Amazons", referring to the mythical Amazons of Asia described by Herodotus (see The Histories [4.110–116]) and Diodorus in Greek legends. A skirmish with these South American warrior women reportedly took place on 24 June 1542 while Orellana was approaching the Trombetus River, in the neighborhood of the Ilha Tupinambarama at

6561-517: Was trapped in the Gulf of Paria for seven days, finally reaching Cubagua on 11 September 1542. The San Pedro sailed north of Trinidad and reached Cubagua on 9 September. From Cubagua, Orellana decided to return to Spain to obtain from the Crown the governorship over the discovered lands, which he named New Andalusia. After a difficult navigation, he touched first the shores of Portugal. The king received him in

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