Amazonia or Amazonas: what is the good way to talk about the fire?

The largest tropical forest in the world burns, l & # 39; Amazon. The stupor of the early days gives way to deep concern about how it spreads the disaster. The first function of words is to name. In the urgency, we turn to the known: "Amazon", served to locate us. However, this is not the right way to identify the geographic area affected by the fire.

Amazonia, Amazonas, the Amazon

The confusion fluctuates between these three terms. But you have to differentiate them:

L & # 39; Amazon It is the rain forest located in the Amazon basin. In 2011, it was declared one of the wonders of the world because it offers a great diversity of fauna and vegetation. Although fires are generally recorded there, the global alarm surprises this time: the region that produces 20% of the oxygen of our planet is destroyed by the flames. It covers 7,000,000 square kilometers in nine countries. The largest area belongs to Brazil and Peru.

As to how to write and pronounce it, there are two ways accepted by the SAR: Amazon and Amazon. The form without tilde is the most common for us, the second is more recorded in the north of Latin America.

The term "Amazon", without article, refers to the Brazilian state whose capital is the city of Manao and "the Amazon" corresponds to the name of the river. The Amazon River, the largest in the world, born in Peru and crosses Colombia and Brazil, where it ends. In terms of writing, the term "river" – like other geographical features – must be in tiny: Amazon river.