Editing Amazon River (section)

=== Dispute regarding length ===
[[File:Amazon River Taxi.jpg|thumb|River taxi in Peru]]
{{see also|Coastline paradox}}

While debate as to whether the Amazon or the [[Nile]] is the world's longest river has gone on for many years, the historic consensus of geographic authorities has been to regard the Amazon as the second longest river in the world, with the Nile being the longest. However, the Amazon has been reported as being anywhere between {{cvt|6275|km|sp=us}} and {{cvt|6992|km|sp=us}} long.<ref name=liu-etal-river-length /> It is often said to be "at least" {{cvt|6575|km|sp=us}} long.<ref name=britannica-amazon /> The Nile is reported to be anywhere from {{cvt|5499|to|7088|km|sp=us}}.<ref name=liu-etal-river-length /> Often it is said to be "about" {{cvt|6650|km|sp=us}} long.<ref name=britannica-nile>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Nile River |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2010 |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415347/Nile-River |access-date=3 August 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429130526/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415347/Nile-River |archive-date=29 April 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> There are several factors that can affect these measurements, such as the position of the geographical source and the mouth, the scale of measurement, and the length measuring techniques (for details see also [[List of rivers by length]]).<ref name=liu-etal-river-length /><ref name=river-source />

In July 2008, the [[National Institute for Space Research|Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE)]] published a news article on their webpage, claiming that the Amazon River was {{cvt|140|km|sp=us}} longer than [[Nile|the Nile]]. The Amazon's length was calculated as {{cvt|6992|km|sp=us}}, taking the Apacheta Creek as its source. Using the same techniques, the length of the Nile was calculated as {{cvt|6853|km|sp=us}}, which is longer than previous estimates but still shorter than the Amazon. The results were reached by measuring the Amazon downstream to the beginning of the tidal estuary of ''Canal do Sul'' and then, after a sharp turn back, following tidal canals surrounding the isle of Marajó and finally including the marine waters of the ''Río Pará'' bay in its entire length.<ref name=inpe /><ref name=britannica-amazon-length /> According to an earlier article on the webpage of [[National Geographic|the National Geographic]], the Amazon's length was calculated as {{cvt|6800|km|sp=us}} by a Brazilian scientist. In June 2007, [[Guido Gelli]], director of science at the [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]] (IBGE), told London's [[The Daily Telegraph|Telegraph]] Newspaper that it could be considered that the Amazon was the longest river in the world.<ref name=Roach/> However, according to the above sources, none of the two results was published, and questions were raised about the researchers' methodology. In 2009, a [[Scholarly peer review|peer-reviewed]] article, was published, concluding that the Nile is longer than the Amazon by stating a length of {{cvt|7088|km|sp=us}} for the Nile and {{cvt|6575|km|sp=us}} for the Amazon, measured by using a combination of satellite image analysis and field investigations to the source regions.<ref name="liu-etal-river-length" />
According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica]], the final length of the Amazon remains open to interpretation and continued debate.<ref name=britannica-amazon /><ref name=britannica-amazon-length />