His name appears in every corner of popular culture and scholarly literature. The Nile River, a 6,695-kilometer journey from the Mediterranean coast across Africa to Burundi, is widely celebrated as the longest river. Yet recent measurements have sparked debate. The River of Pharaohs has emerged as a challenger, separated by only a few kilometers, with new data suggesting it could overtake the Nile in the near future.
Determining birth length for the Amazon has been a persistent challenge. Previously cited around 6,400 kilometers, the Amazon was measured at roughly 6,800 kilometers after a 2007 expedition funded by the governments of Peru and Brazil. Additional tributaries, such as Mantaro in Peru, could push the total even longer, potentially reshaping the global ranking of river lengths.
Mushrooms in the circle signalled the source of a long-standing debate.
While these updates convinced many in Latin America that the Amazon is the longest, observers worldwide remain skeptical, and many schools still teach that the Nile holds the crown.
To settle the question, Brazilian explorer Yuri Sanada has planned a six-month expedition covering roughly 7,000 kilometers from the Andes source in Peru to the Atlantic mouth, passing through Colombia and Brazil along the Amazon. “Mantaro is connected to the Amazon, yet no one has completed a precise on the ground measurement from the Andes to the ocean yet,” Sanada explains.
The project mirrors historic expeditions while prioritizing rigorous field data collection. “Approximately 4,500 people have walked atop Mount Everest and 1,500 have crossed the Atlantic, but only a handful have traced a river from source to mouth,” he notes. Those who have joined such canoeing ventures seldom did so for strictly scientific purposes.
Scientific and informative project
The initiative, titled Amazon, from ice to sea, will commence in April 2024 under the banner of the film production group Amazon Adventure. The project aims to produce multiple outputs, including a web series, a TV series, streaming content, a documentary, a VR and AR educational experience, and an IMAX educational feature for museums in forty countries, according to the producer’s site.
“This journey will be thoroughly documented with the aim of confirming whether the Amazon is the world’s largest river by territorial width and water volume,” states Amazon Adventures. The mission also seeks to promote clean energy and raise awareness about water pollution.
Solar powered electric canoes and pedal powered boats developed in Brazil will be tested to demonstrate clean energy solutions. These vessels promise lower costs and greater durability, offering practical advantages over European and Asian models.
The campaign includes documenting regional biodiversity with professional photography while spotlighting environmental threats such as illegal mining, pollution, and organized crime. Sanada highlights that the expedition will cover both banks of the river, with one team navigating Mantaro’s white waters and another following the Apurímac riverbank on horseback with French explorer Céline Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau. The journey will start at the confluence of these two rivers, supported by a vessel that will serve as a base for audiovisual and scientific missions in select sections.
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