It Wasn't Always the Amazon
1500 AD
1500 1500
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BRAZIL
	If you've never heard of the great Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce River, don't blame Vicente Ya¤ez Pinz˘n, he did his best.
	Pinz˘n, a Spanish explorer, sailed up the South American river in 1500 and took the honor of naming it.  But maybe the name Pinz˘n chose was just too long.  For whatever reason, it didn't stick.
	The name that did stick was given by Francisco de Orellana, another Spaniard, who sailed down the river in 1541 from its source in the Andes.  On the way he reportedly encountered a tribe of fighting women.  Reminded of the Greek legend of the fighting all-woman tribe called the Amazons, he called the river the "Amazonas."
	While the Nile is the longest river in the world, the Amazon River is the second in length, but carries more water than the Nile, Mississippi and Yangtze rivers combined.  The river is fed by about 200 tributaries and drains 2.7 million square miles of South America. 
	Currently, the Amazon basin is a source of deep concern to environmentalists, who fear that widespread forest clearing will lead to the extinction of many types of plants and animals, as well as destroy the lives of tribes in the area.
