亚马逊河(Amazon River)
葡萄牙语作Rio Amazonas
南美洲北部河流。是世界上流量最大、流域面积最广的河流，其长度仅次於尼罗河。发源於秘鲁安地斯山脉，距太平洋100哩（160公里）之内，穿过巴西北部到大西洋入海口，全长约4,000哩（6,400公里）。在秘鲁的河段通称为马拉尼翁河（Mara?ón），在巴西至内格罗河的河段则称为索利蒙伊斯河（Solim?es）。亚马逊河已知的支流有一千多条，发源於圭亚那高原、巴西高原和（主要是）安地斯山脉。有七条支流长度超过1,000哩（1,600公里），其中马德拉河超过2,000哩（3,200公里）。亚马逊河可全年通航，大货船入内陆可上行1,000哩（1,600公里）远至马瑙斯。1541年奥雷利亚纳（Francisco de Orellana）是沿河而下的第一个欧洲人；据说他在与妇女部落（他比作亚马逊人）打了几仗後，就把这条河流取名为亚马逊河。1637～1639年泰谢拉（Pedro Teixeira）实现了第一次溯河而上的探险，但在19世纪中叶以前，这条河一直很少被开发利用。最初由许多原住民沿河而居，但随着各路人马想把他们当奴隶使用後，他们就往内地迁移。1860年代，该河开放给全世界的船只通行；随着橡胶贸易的来临，河上交通呈指数型增长，1910年前後达到颠峰，但不久就衰退下来。亚马逊河流域有世界上最大的热带雨林，以及品种繁多的珍禽异兽。1960年代以来，由於经济的开发对该区生态环境的影响已受到全世界的关注。
English version：
Amazon River
River, northern South America. It is the largest river in the world in volume and area of drainage basin, and second only to the Nile in length. It originates within 100 mi (160 km) of the Pacific Ocean in the Peruvian Andes and flows almost 4,000 mi (6,400 km) across northern Brazil into the Atlantic Ocean. Its Peruvian length is often called the Mara?ón; the Brazilian portion to the mouth of the Negro is often called the Solim?es. Its more than 1,000 known tributaries rise in the Guiana Highlands, the Brazilian Highlands, and (principally) the Andes; seven are longer than 1,000 mi (1,600 km), and the Madeira is longer than 2,000 mi (3,200 km). The Amazon can accommodate large freighters as far as Manaus, 1,000 mi (1,600 km) upriver. The first European descent was made by Francisco de Orellana in 1541; he is said to have given the river its name after reporting battles with tribes of women, whom he likened to the Amazons. Pedro Teixeira achieved the first ascent in 1637-39, but the river remained little explored until the mid-19th century. Many indigenous peoples originally lived along the river, but they moved inland as exploring parties sought to enslave them. The river was opened to world shipping in the 1860s; traffic increased exponentially with the coming of the rubber trade, which reached its height c. 1910 but soon declined. It is the site of the world's greatest rain forest and hosts an extraordinary diversity of birds and wildlife. Since the 1960s, the effects of economic exploitation on the region's ecology have generated worldwide concern.