Amazonas

Large territory in the extreme south of Venezuela; area 176,423 sq km/68,117 sq mi; population (1996) 80,000. Most of the country lies in the Orinoco drainage basin, while the Amazon basin takes up only the southwestern region of the state. The two basins are linked by the Casiquiare channel, which sends a portion of the Orinoco's water to the Río Negro and down the Amazon. The capital is Puerto Ayacucho; population (1996) 73,660.

The indigenous Indian population in Amazonas was 40,000 in the mid-1990s, comprising three native groups: Piaroa, Yanamami, and Guajibo. There are approximately 20 native Indian languages in this area.

Amazonas

State in the northwest of Brazil, the country's largest state by area and one of the smallest by population; area 1,564,450 sq km/604,034 sq mi; population (1996) 1,231,007. Lying wholly within the basin of the River Amazon, which flows west to east across its centre, the state consists of a vast plain, all of it under 300 m/984 ft in height, and most of it below 150 m/492 ft. Amazonas is covered with thick forests of hardwood and dense jungle, and its main products are timber and other forest products, including rubber and Brazil nuts. The capital is Manaus. The Brazilian government and international environmental agencies are now monitoring and regulating development in Amazonas.

Amazonas is intersected by innumerable tributaries flowing into the River Amazon. Ocean-going vessels can reach Manaus, while vessels of up to 4 m/13 ft draught can navigate up the Amazon to the western border of the state and beyond, to Iquitos in Peru. Temperature and humidity are high, with little seasonal variation. Numerous small native Indian peoples subsist by hunting and gathering in the rainforest of Amazonas. However, these indigenous peoples have, since the 1980s, become increasingly threatened by the activities of cattle ranchers and logging and strip-mining concerns, all of whom have felled huge tracts of forest and despoiled the environment. Road building has increased to accommodate the new exploitation of the region.

Amazonas

Department in northern Peru, bordering Ecuador in the north; area 39,249 sq km/15,154 sq mi; population (1996) 376,289. The capital is Chachapoyas. Amazonas lies mainly in the lowlands of the Amazon basin (here called the River Marañon), but its southern part also stretches into the Andes. The region is heavily forested and traversed by many rivers and streams. The main economic activities here are agriculture and raising cattle. Cultivation of rice is also important in the Bagna area.