The word "amazon" goes back to Greek myths about a race of warrior women who were strong and fearless. That myth spawned the name of the world's largest river, when in the 16th century, Francisco de Orellana led an expedition down the newly discovered waterway. There he encountered what was reported as a warlike race of women. Interesting enough, this tribe of females was never seen again, but their name was given to the river.

Forceful and strong, the Amazon River, and indeed the entire region, lives up to the name. The river is technically the largest in the world, pumping out seven million cubic feet of water per second, at the mouth, which is a great capacity than the Nile. And little wonder, since it has 1100 tributaries, and wanders through nine countries, over a course that covers 4,049 miles.

Of course, water has to come from somewhere, and in part the Amazon contains run-off from mountains, plus the incredible average annual rainfall of 7.5 feet.

Further north in the Amazon basin, that total can rise to 20 feet. Estimates are that the Amazon River contains 20% of the entire world's supply of fresh water.

Not all rain ends up in the river, though. In fact, probably only about 1/3 reaches the twisting riverbed. The rest falls on trees, leaves and ground where much of it evaporates into the air. So goes the endless cycle of water evaporating off the Atlantic Ocean being carried on warm winds over the South American territory, and from there, moisture laden winds run into the mountains and create rain that ends up in the river to be carried back out to sea.