Amazon River: 20% of Freshwater, Not All Water

Correction: The Amazon discharges ~20% of the world's river freshwater flow into oceans—not 20% of all water on Earth.

• Amazon Discharge: ~209,000 m³/s (avg) → ~6,600 km³/yr.
• Global River Discharge: ~37,000 km³/yr. Amazon ≈ 18–20%.
• Total Earth Water: ~1.386 billion km³ (oceans 97.5%, ice 1.7%, groundwater 1.7%, lakes/rivers/atmosphere/soil <0.01%).
• Amazon Share of Total Water: ~0.0005% (negligible).

The Amazon is the largest river by discharge (next: Congo ~41,000 m³/s). Its plume extends 100s of km into Atlantic, lowering salinity. But it's a tiny fraction of planetary water.