On August 20, the tweet below brought worldwide attention to the Amazon forest.

The Amazon has been burning for 3 weeks, and I’m just now finding out because of the lack of media coverage. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ECOSYSTEMS ON EARTH. SPREAD AWARENESS #PrayforAmazonia pic.twitter.com/HHVnaM66VV

— 𝓉𝓎𝓁𝑒𝓇 (@tyswizzlee) August 20, 2019

Since this tweet was posted, it has been retweeted over 447,000 times. But why did it garner so much attention?

The Amazon rainforest (also known as Amazonia) is one of the most important ecological sites in the world. It is considered as vital in the survival of the planet because it plays a major role in the fight against global warming. Furthermore, it hosts various plants and animals, making it a key tourist attraction in the world.

However, it has been on fire for a while now. In 2019, the National Institute for Space Research reported an 83 percent surge in the forest’s wildfires between January to August. Moreover, these wildfires may only get worse in the future.

Let’s take a look at some interesting facts about the Amazon forest and why it deserves all the attention it can get.

Here are 10 interesting Amazon facts

1. The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest rainforest, covering more land (over 5.5 million square kilometres) than the second and third largest rainforests combined. It’s so big that it is almost the size of the United States.

2. The Amazon spans across the territories of 9 countries including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Moreover, Brazil harbours the largest share of the rainforest, about 60 %.

3. Francisco de Orellana, a Spanish explorer, is famed for being the first person to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River. As a result, he is named after the river which was originally known as “Rio de Orellana.”

4. The origin of its name: The story goes that when Francisco de Orellana visited the Amazon in 1542 to conquer it, he found women who fought alongside the men. Surprised by this, he named the forest after a group of strong warrior women in Greek mythology, the Amazons.

5. The Amazon is home to about 50 indigenous tribes with their own culture and languages. A large portion of the tribes have never made contact with anyone in the outside world. These tribes comprise nomadic hunters and gatherers.

6. Due to its unique climate, the Amazon hosts one-tenth of all known plant and animal species on the planet. These include 40,000 plant species, 1,300 bird species, 3,000 types of fish, 430 mammals and 2.5 million different insects. This collection of species is still growing as scientists still discover new species on a yearly basis.

8. The Amazon is packed with a host of deadly animals including alligators, anacondas, flesh eating piranhas, jaguars, electric eels, venomous snakes, bats, spiders, and ants.

9. The Amazon forest is home to the Amazon river, which is the second longest river in the world.

10. Dubbed the “lungs of the earth”, the Amazon provides the world with over 20% of its oxygen. This is because it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and releases oxygen back into it.