Life in Tropical and Subtropical River Basins

 People in Amazon basin practice
“slash and burn agriculture”. The staple food is manioc,
also known as cassava that grows under the ground like
the potato. They also eat queen ants and egg sacs. Cash
crops like coffee, maize and cocoa are also grown.

The kapok tree is the biggest tree in the Amazon rain forest.  They grow up to 200 feet in height and some trees grow 13 feet per year.  The wood of this tree is lightweight and used in many ways.  The seeds of the tree contain oil in it and are mainly used for making soaps. 

Cassava is the staple food of the people of Amazon basin. It is actually a starchy root plant. They cook it in different ways like boiled or fried and also make flour from this after drying it.

In the Amazon basin, rainforests provide a lot of wood for the houses. Some families live in thatched houses shaped like beehives. There are other large apartment-like houses called “Maloca” with a steeply slanting roof.

In the Amazon basin, People grow most of their food in small areas after clearing some trees in the forest. While men hunt and fish along the rivers, women take care of the crops. They practice “slash and burn agriculture”. 

Amazon rainforest is located in South America on the bank of the river Amazon. It covers an area of 5.500,000 sq km. Broadleaf evergreen trees are found in this forest. This rainforest is also known as Selva. 

The Amazon River originates in the Andes Mountains of Peru, specifically from the Mantaro River and Apurimac River sources.

The Amazon River system is the longest navigation channel in the world. No Dams regulates its flow, no bridges span their banks, and no dredgers alter its course. It is continuous natural river channel appropriate for tug navigation.

The Sao Francisco River is a major river in Brazil, often cited as the third most important after the Amazon and Parana.

The Paraguay and Parana rivers flow through the southwestern region of Brazil, eventually forming part of the Rio de la Plata basin.

The mouth of the Amazon is characterized by a large estuary and islands, rather than a dense network of distributaries like a typical delta.

The Paraguay and Parana rivers are major tributaries that contribute to the Rio de la Plata basin, which flows through Argentina.

Medicinal plants have been used in the treatment and prevention of malaria in various parts of the world. Quinine extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree is used as an antimalarial agent.

The Port of Iquitos is a port on the Amazon River in northeastern Peru. It is located about 3700 kilometres upstream from the Atlantic Ocean on the Amazon and 1030 kilometres northeast of the nation’s capital, Lima. The Port of Iquitos became important to the country in the late 19th Century with the rubber boom. 

The port of Belem is the most important commercial port on the North coast of Brazil. The port is situated on the East bank of the Rio Para about 70 miles from its mouth. Through this port, communication is maintained with all inland Amazon port. 

The main occupation of the people of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin is agriculture. This is because the rivers make the soil of the basin very fertile and also the climatic condition of that region is also favorable. 

The Kaziranga National Park is famous for the One Horned Rhinoceros. It is situated in Assam. In the year 1985, the park was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Kolkata is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 80 kilometers (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational center of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port.

Bengal tiger is found in mangrove forests. The Sundarban delta is densely covered by mangrove forests and is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger.

The main crop of the Ganga-Brahmaputra region is paddy. Because of the monsoon type of climate of the region, as well as fertile and rich alluvium soil, it is the best for the growth of the rice.

The main occupation of the people of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin is agriculture. This is because the rivers make the soil of the basin very fertile and also the climatic condition of that region is favorable. 

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658) to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself.

The Ganges river dolphin or susu is a variety of dolphins found in the Ganga-Brahmaputra region. They are considered to be endangered because of human activities. 

Agra is the city that is not located on the banks of river Ganga. It is situated on the bank of river Yamuna, originating from ' Yamnotri' glacier in the uppermost region of lower Himalaya in Uttarakhand. It also the longest tributary of the Ganga river.

The presence of Susu (also called blind dolphin) in the Ganga-Brahmaputra river is an indication of the health of the river. The Ganges river dolphins can only live in freshwater and are essentially blind. The untreated industrial and urban wastes with a high amount of harmful chemicals are killing the species.  

Amazon is the largest river in the world,situated in south America. It covers an area of 7,500,000 square km and 40% of the south America continent. The most important tributary is the Maraming river, which is the second largest river in the world.  Major part of the basin is covered with amazon rain forest.

The Amazon River basin stretches from the Brazilian Highlands in the south to the Guiana Highlands in the north. Its area is around 2.7 million square miles, and it covers almost half of South America, including a total of eight countries: Colombia, Bolivia, Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, and Suriname.

The Amazon Rainforest is an Equatorial rainforest and is located very close to the Equator. As a result of being an Equatorial rainforest, the Amazon basin's weather and climate are very hot, humid and damp.  There are no seasons like Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring, it is just one humid season with lots of rain.

The Amazon Basin stretches directly on the equator and is characterized by hot and wet climate throughout the year. Both day and nights are almost equally hot and humid. The skin feels sticky. It rains almost every day, that too without much warning. The day temperatures are high with very high humidity. At night the temperature goes down but the humidity remains high.

Convectional rainfall is common in the hot and wet tropical rain forests of central Africa, Amazon basin of South America and the islands of south-east Asia. In the late afternoon, the clouds burst into a heavy downpour, often accompanied by thunder and lighting. It usually occurs at about 4 pm, so convectional rain is called 'four o'clock rain' and occurs daily in the equatorial regions.