• The Amazon River cuts through South America.south america image by NataV from Fotolia.com
  
  The Amazon region features a rain forest larger than any other. The six countries bordering the Amazon River as it flows from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean are home to cultures familiar with the rain forest and its rich environment. The Smithsonian's Amazon facts state that the river is 4,195 miles long and covers 2,720,000 square miles.
  
  

Peru

• Peru, the third largest country in South America, is where the Amazon River begins its journey to the ocean. The Amazon River Basin provides a diverse ecosystem to Peru with tropical jungles, plant life and animals.
  
  Asians, Europeans and Africans migrated to Peru through the years. Because of its many cultural traditions, a variety of languages are spoken. The majority of people speak Spanish but the Quechua language continues to exist today, a remnant of the ancient Incan Empire. More than 35 different languages are spoken by the native tribes along the Amazon River of Peru.
  
  

Bolivia

• Bolivia is east of Peru. Its topography varies, with peaks in the Andes Mountains reaching two miles above sea level contrasting with the lowland Amazon rain forest and the Amazon River.
  
  Nine departments, divided into 94 provinces, are home for more than eight million residents of Bolivia. The nine departments include: Pando, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tanja.
  
  

Venezuela

• Venezuela has four main regions. To the northwest are the Maracaibo lowlands, to the north are Andes Mountains running from east to west, to the southeast are the Guiana highlands and in central Venezuela lay the Orinoco Plains.
  
  Two percent of the 26 million residents of Venezuela are indigenous. The four largest groups of indigenous people living in Venezuela are the Wayuu, Warao, Pemon and Anu. The Yanomami tribe is the most isolated, living along the Amazon River tributaries.
  
  

Colombia

• Colombia is in the northwest corner and takes up more than 625,000 square miles. It borders Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador and its coastlines fall on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Colombia has major drug and terrorism problems but the Colombian Amazon rain forest remains a tourist attraction.
  
  

Ecuador

• Ecuador has a population of more than 14 million Spanish, Caucasian, indigenous, African and mixed people. Its topography includes the Amazon rain forest east of the Andes Mountains, coastal regions and mountain valleys. Ecuador covers approximately 173,000 square miles.
  
  Ecuador's rich oil resources are its main source of economic growth. Other exports of Ecuador are bananas, shrimp, fish and flowers.
  
  

Brazil

• Northern Brazil is covered by the rain forest, which accounts for an economy of exporting rubber, fish and lumber. Tourism also adds to the Brazilian economy. One-third of the Brazilian population lives in the northeast.
  
  Cattle farming takes place in the central plateau of Brazil and southeast Brazil features the most developed areas. Southeast Brazil has a diverse topography that includes mountains, forest and major cities that account for the region's well-developed agriculture and industry. Exports of the southeast are soy, coffee and gems. The major cities of southeast Brazil are Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais.