Amur River

The Amur River, in Siberia, springs from the confluence of the Shilka and Argun Rivers east of Lake BAIKAL and flows over 1,800 mi (2,897 km) toward the Tatar Straits, the passage between Sakhalin and the Russian Pacific Coast. With all tributaries, the Amur basin covers nearly 750,000 square mi (1,942,491 square km) of area. The Russian push into the river valley in the mid-17th century resulted in a border clash with the Chinese Empire. The Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) admitted the territorial sovereignty of the Manchu dynasty over the Amur region for 150

years. The Chinese know the river as the Heilongjiang.

In the mid-19th century, the Amur, as the lone river in

Siberia that flows eastward to the PACIFIC OCEAN,

gained geopolitical significance for the Russian Empire.

After the unequal treaties concluded with CHINA in

1850 and 1860, RUSSIA annexed the Amur region.

Russian 19th-century geographers spoke of the

Amur as Russia’s gateway to the Pacific. Not only is

the river is abundant with fish, but also the mild climate

is appropriate for agriculture (grain, vegetables,

fruits). A systematic geographical exploration of the

river by the Russians began in 1824 with Grigorii

Spasskii’s study “Historical and Statistical Notes about

Places along the River Amur.” In 1846, navigator

Alexander Gavrilov sailed to the mouth of the Amur

and reported that the river was too shallow for even

small ships. This was revised by Gennadii Nevel’skoi’s

expedition in 1849 that found that the mouth of the

Amur was navigable by ships of any size.

The Russian government feared a British occupation

of the river mouth and the east Siberian general

governor, Nikolai Murav’ev-Amurskii, coined the Russian geopolitical logic that whoever shall control

the mouth shall control Siberia to Lake Baikal. In

1856, the tzarist government declared the Amur region

a free trade zone. After the emancipation of the serfs

(1861), the government supported the free colonization

with tax exemptions. Though some thousands of

peasants settled along the Amur, the region remained

underpopulated until the modern era.

In view of the illegal migration between 1860 and

World War I, the tzarist government founded the socalled

Amur Cossack Division, which supervised the

border line along the river. In the Russian Civil War

(1917–22) Japanese troops occupied the Amur region.

Again in the 1930s and in the late 1960s, the Amur became

a military trouble spot between the Soviet Union

and its East Asian neighbors, JAPAN and China. In the

era of Sino-Soviet confrontation, the Soviet government

created a frontier ethos that was, at least, reflected

by the construction of the BAM (Baikal-Amur-

Magistrale). After the breakdown of the Soviet Union

in 1989, the Amur region experienced a population

outflow to European Russia that resulted in a declining

industrial production. Nevertheless, the Amur region

seeks economic cooperation with nearby China and facilitates

border trade between the cities Blagoveshchensk

and Heihe.

Amu Darya

The Amu Darya has served as a bridge between cultures for several millennia. A river that flows straight across one of the harshest deserts in the world, it has served as a natural highway for migrants and invaders from Central Asia to South Asia and the MIDDLE EAST, as well as a boundary for the empires established by these same invaders. The Amu Darya starts high in the HINDU KUSH mountains at the boundaries of AFGHANISTAN, KASHMIR, CHINA, and TAJIKISTAN, at an elevation of 16,170 ft (4,900 m). From there, it descends rapidly to the great central Asian lowlands, which are mostly covered by the Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum deserts. Much of the river’s water is lost to evaporation and irrigation, so water levels are actually lowest when it finally reaches its mouth in a large delta on the ARAL SEA, 1,500 mi (2,419 km) later.

The river was known as the Oxus (or the River Styx, River of Hades) to the ancient Greeks and formed the northern extremity of the lands conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C.E. The lands that now form UZBEKISTAN and KAZAKHSTAN were thus known for much of their history as Trans-Oxiana. The river’s current name comes from the ancient city of Amulya (near Chardzhou), plus darya (Turkic for “river”). Irrigation has long been vital to cities in the region, cities whose importance was heightened as stops on the SILK ROAD from Persia to China. Important sultanates grew up around the cities of Khiva, near the delta, and Bukhara further upstream, near the confluence of the deserts and the foothills of the great mountains to the east. Fertile desert soils, watered by the Amu Darya and bathed in unending sunshine, were famous for their production of extra sweet fruits, notably apricots, dates, and melons, and aromatic plants such as lavender and sage. Imperial Russian and later Soviet administrations increased the development of irrigation of the Amu Darya valley, making Uzbekistan into a leading producer of cotton, but have also caused the ARAL SEA to shrink to in size. At some times during low water, the Amu Darya does not even reach the Aral at all.

The Amu Darya basin drains 208,558 square mi (534,764 square km), including most of Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan, and a small area of south KYRGYZSTAN. Seventy-two percent of the basin is arid, while 22 percent is cropland through irrigation. Nearly from its source in the Wakhan panhandle of northeastern Afghanistan, the river serves as the border between that country and Tajikistan, and is fed by several swiftmoving mountain tributaries from both countries. The river is called the Vakhan Darya until it is joined by the largest of these tributaries, the Vakhsh, from Tajikistan, then assumes the name Amu Darya. At its emergence from the foothills of these great mountains, the river valley becomes the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, though much of the river itself lies within the latter until the city of Chardzhou, and within the former from Khiva to the delta. In this segment, the river is slow and wide and receives no tributaries at all and very little rain, thus losing approximately 25 percent of its volume before it reaches the Aral Sea.

Chardzhou, the largest city in northeastern Turkmenistan, marks the boundary between semidesert and desert; from this point on, the sands of the Kara Kum approach the river directly and add considerably to the already heavy load of silt, sand, and mud being carried by the river from the mountains. The Amu Darya is considered the most heavily silted river in the world, with its high volume of suspended material giving it its characteristic murky yellow coloring. The eastern parts of the river in Turkestan have natural gas reserves. Transportation from this interior is linked to Turkestan’s capital and ports on the CASPIAN SEA by the Kara Kum Canal and a railroad link that crosses the Amu Darya in an impressive mile-long bridge at Chardzhou. The Amu Darya itself is little used for commercial traffic, since the Aral Sea connects with no other bodies of water, and the river itself is filled with constantly shifting sandbars and a variety of meanders.

American Samoa

American Samoa, a territory of the UNITED STATES in the PACIFIC OCEAN, consists of the eastern half of the Samoan archipelago and comprises five volcanic islands: the main island of Tutuila and its smaller partner, Anu’u, plus the islands of Ofu, Olosega, and Ta’u (the Manu’a Islands) to the east.

The territory, with its capital at Pago Pago, is 77.6 square mi (199 square km) and has a highest point at Lata of 3,188 ft (966 m). It has a population of 70,260. The territory also includes the more distant coral atolls, Rose and Sand, and tiny Swains Island, far to the north. The islands extend roughly 186 mi (300 km) from west to east and are located about two-thirds of the way from HAWAII to NEW ZEALAND.

The main town and administrative center, Pago Pago, has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the South Pacific Ocean, protected from rough seas and high winds. Strategically located at the crossroads of the South Pacific, the harbor at Pago Pago attracted the attention of the U.S. Navy as early as the 1870s and remained a primary coaling point for U.S. ships crossing the Pacific until the end of World War I, when oil replaced coal in most larger vessels. Since then, American Samoa has remained a relative backwater and has thus retained much of its traditional way of life, unlike many of its neighbors.

American Samoa’s nearest neighbors are the sovereign states of [Western] SAMOA and TONGA to the west and southwest and the New Zealand dependencies of Tokelau, Cook Islands and Niue to the north, east, and south. The islands lie just to the east of the INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE and at the intersection of the three cultural divisions of POLYNESIA, MICRONESIA, and MELANESIA, though the Samoans themselves fall within the Polynesian sphere. The islands are volcanic in origin, with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains.

The climate is tropical marine, with ample rainfall, stimulating dense forests on most the islands and allowing cultivation of bananas, coconuts, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, and papayas. Industries are limited to several large tuna canneries, plus local handicrafts and garments. Tourism is not heavy, since there is limited airline service. The canneries were opened in the 1950s and 1960s and constituted 90 percent of all exports in 1995. But few locals want to work there, so half the labor force are aliens, mostly from Western Samoa and tonga. Young American Samoans are increasingly leaving for the mainland United States for higher education and employment opportunities. The population thus varies widely (for example, in 1984 it was given as only 36,000). About 90 percent live on Tutuila, mostly near Pago Pago. 

The islands were settled long before European contact in the 18th century. Native chiefs looked to the United States in the late 19th century for protection against the squabbles of European colonial powers. The first treaty with a local chief allowing U.S. boats to anchor in Pago Pago Harbor was signed in 1872, and negotiations between Great Britain, Germany, and the United States led to a partition in 1899 (at 171 degrees west longitude), though the ranking Samoan chiefs did not formally cede their territories until 1904 (after the United States had already set up its administration). The larger islands in the group, Upolu and Savai’i, went to GERMANY and from 1962 formed the independent nation of Samoa. The population of the eastern islands in 1900 was less than 6,000. After World War I, the Samoans were mostly left to themselves, and their traditional system of government and familybased communal landownership was preserved. Subsistence economy was successful and local traditions were strong, so many Western influences were either rejected or, like Christianity, molded to fit the Samoan way.

Since 1951 the islands have fallen under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and a new constitution was adopted in 1966, but, unlike America’s other territories in the Pacific, there is little desire to change the status quo, either toward independence or toward closer affiliation with the United States. The islands rely on heavy subsidies and welfare programs but are also wary of losing their traditional way of life by submitting entirely to U.S. law (for example, the continuation of government leadership by semi-hereditary chiefs, the matai, and the system of communal landholding, under which about 92 percent of the land continues to be held by traditional kin groups). American Samoa thus remains an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States.

Samoans are mostly self-governing, and strict restrictions of immigration are intended to preserve their autonomy and traditional culture.

Amazon River

SOME AUTHORITIES believe that the river in BRAZIL and neighboring countries was named after the Amazons, women warriors of Greek mythology, who were thought to reside in the region; other scholars insist that the name is derived from the local native word amassona, meaning “boat destroyer.” Despite centuries of effort to overcome the dominance of nature, people have made little impact on the Amazon and most of its vast drainage basin. No bridge spans the river. Except near its mouth, the Amazon watershed constitutes one of the most thinly populated regions in the world. Much of the territory drained by the river system has never been thoroughly explored. One may fly for hours over the tropical forests that cover much of the river’s FLOODPLAIN and see no sign of human settlement. In many valleys, native tribes remain hostile to strangers, continuing to live much as they did before the arrival of the Europeans.

The Amazon Basin is a vast structural depression covering approximately 2,722,000 square mi (7,049,800 square km), an area nearly as large as the continental portion of the UNITED STATES. It is twice as large as the world’s next largest drainage BASIN (the CONGO RIVER), and supports the world’s largest rainforest. Geologically, two large stable masses of Precambrian rock, the Guyana Shield or Highlands to the north and the Central Brazilian Shield or Plateau to the south, bound the Amazon River and basin. Some 15 million years ago, before the ANDES MOUNTAINS were formed, the Amazon River flowed westward into the PACIFIC OCEAN. With the uplift of the Andes Mountains, however, the course of the river was eventually blocked to the west. As the river system backed up, the environment of the Amazon basin changed and numerous freshwater lakes began to form an inland sea. Ultimately, the gradient and volume of water was sufficient to push the flow to the east toward the ATLANTIC OCEAN where it empties today.

Most sources list the Amazon as 4,080 mi long (6,580 km), making it second to the NILE in length. However, there is some debate about the length of the Amazon versus Nile depending on the actual starting point of the source. According to recent discoveries, the Amazon is 4,195 miles (6,712 km) long if the course follows the Apurimac branch (rather than the Urubamba branch) of the Ucayali to a point 17,200 ft (5,242 m) above sea level, making it 50 mi (80 km) longer than the Nile. The Ucayali and Maranon rivers, both of which rise in the permanent snows and glaciers of the high Andes Mountains, flow along roughly parallel courses to the north before joining near Iquitos, Peru. Beyond Iquitos the river turns abruptly eastward, flowing along a very gentle gradient (approximately 1.25 in or 3.2 cm per mile) more or less paralleling the equator as it meanders over lowland plains. At Manaus, approximately 1,000 mi (1,610 km) upstream from the coast, the elevation is only 100 ft (30 m) higher than Belem, which is an ocean port.

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world. It extends for 3,000 mi (4,828 km) from the ANDES mountains to the ATLANTIC OCEAN. The rainforest covers parts of BRAZIL, PERU, ECUADOR, COLOMBIA, BOLIVIA, and VENEZUELA, encompassing over a billion acres and covering one-third of South America. The 6,500 mi (10,461 km) of the great AMAZON RIVER, second only to the NILE RIVER in length, flows throughout the rainforest. Eleven hundred tributaries, some of which are over 1,000 mi (1,609 km) long, feed into the Amazon River.

Since the rainforest is close to the equator, its CLIMATE is hot and humid at all times. From 40 to 80 in (100 cm to 200 cm) of rain falls annually in the eastern section of the rainforest, while the western region experiences around 160 in (400 cm) of rain each year. THUNDERSTORMS occur more than 200 days of the year. In sections of the rainforest that are closest to the equator, rain falls almost constantly. Trees within the rainforest are always green, but many shed their leaves in response to biological and climatological changes.

The Amazon Rainforest is considered a resource for the entire world, in part because of the plant life that protects the world’s environment from the greenhouse effect. When the rainforest performs its natural function, at last 50 percent of the rain returns to the atmosphere on the leaves of trees through the process of evapotranspiration. This process uses the water loss from the trees in the rainforest to form clouds that make rain in other, more protected parts of the rainforest area.

The rainforest is made up of four layers: the emergent layer, the canopy, the understory, and the forest floor. The emergent layer is located at the top of the trees of the rainforest. This layer is subject to intensive amounts of sunlight, high temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds. The canopy, sometimes called the upper canopy, is made up of the tallest trees in the forest. These trees, which may grow to 200 ft (61 m), pro-tect the land below from harsh sunlight. The middle layer of the rainforest, known as the understory or lower canopy, may be as high as 20 ft (6 m). It is made up of various small trees, vines, and shrubs. The forest floor or the jungle is composed of ground cover such as herbs, mosses, and fungi. The wildlife in this section of the rainforest eats roots, seeds, leaves, fruit, and smaller animals.

Around two-thirds of all animals and plants in the rainforest inhabit the canopy. For instance, in a section of a canopy in the Peruvian rainforest, scientists identified over 50 species of ants, 1,000 species of beetles, some 1,799 arthropod species, and approximately 100,000 species of fauna. Samples taken from canopies in PANAMA, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia revealed over 1,500 species of beetles in each canopy. Because the canopy area is not easily accessed and because many insects find shelter underneath the leaves, it is thought that thousands of species may yet be discovered. Some species of wildlife spend their entire lives in the trees of the rainforest.

Poverty, population growth, greed, and shortsightedness have historically been the major threats to the Amazon Rainforest. Construction, which often operates on the principle of “slash and burn,” has created a new threat since the middle of the 20th century. For instance, in February 2001, officials in Ecuador contracted with an international consortium to construct the 300-mi (483-km) Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados (Heavy Crude Pipeline) intended to transport crude oil from the rainforest to the Pacific Coast, affecting forests and wildlife and displacing native inhabitants.