Social and Economic Development

        Another important economic sector is the natural rubber industry; the Amazon rainforest is one of the most important producers of natural rubber in the world. In the twentieth century mining has became a great economic sector in the Amazon rainforest. This sector plays a big role in forest destruction because the chemicals pollute the rivers, and trees are cut down to make room for mining. Most of the amazon economy involves illegal activity like drug dealing, biological trade and wood cutting.

http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/economic-importance.html

With reduced forests, people are less able to benefit from the natural resources these ecosystems provide. This can lead to increased poverty and in cases, people may need to move in order to find forests which can sustain them.

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Amazon Rainforest Facts

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http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm#.UYmByyvwJV4

Geopolitical Framework

     
       In the dense Amazon rainforest of Peru, there are five reserves inhabited by indigenous groups who have chosen to stay independent from modern society. But most of these natives are protected by the government to keep away outside disturbances by declaring reservations. The act of protection for the natives was necessary to protect their right to live their traditional hunter- gatherer ways and to compensate for the "rubber boom." Because of this, the Amazonians are highly defenseless against modern weapons and require outside protection. But the "protection" of the government has been very minimal. This has allowed the acts of illegal logging and oil operations. The protection has now increased recently because of the illegal activity and is also taken to a more serious matter. There have been several non-profit organizations created like (DAR) have been fighting for the rightful protection of the native Amazonian.
         

Cultural Coherence

        According to USA Today, "Most Amazon tribes developed a hunter gatherer culture, moving to a new area every few years. But in recent years, many tribes have opted for a more stationary experience." This means that each tribe consist of having its own culture, including crafts, dance, songs, and medicines.
        Amongst the many tribes of the Amazon rainforest, the most common practice is animism. Animism believes that the rainforest is based on spirits that lie within the plant and animal life. Some tribes even practice using hallucinogenic drugs to see spirits.

Population and Settlement

         Before the European settlers arrived, the Amazon rainforest contained societies that lived traditional tribal ways. These societies made pottery, utilized the land for farming, and organized the rainforest by distributing species in a way that benefitted the society. Most of these natives were settled along rivers where fishing and rich soil was accessible.
         After the Europeans arrived, about 90 percent of the native population near rivers was lost. The rivers became a very big aspect for the Europeans which pushed the majority of the native population to the interior of the rainforest.
        Today most Amazonian have adapted to the western modern world. For example most of the native population wears Western clothes, they use modern cooking like pots and pans, and some tribes do not use the traditional hunting method anymore. But not all native Amazonian have adjusted to western ideals.

Environmental Geography

The Amazon rainforest is a thick and humid tropical rainforest that is constantly raining, receiving about 100 inches of rain per year. The rainforest was formed during the Eocene era and has existed on Earth for 55 million years.At first, the interior of the forest was restricted entrance up until the 1960's. Then the production of farms started to rise which involved the use of the slash and burn method and ultimately failed because of poor soil quality. Because of this, farmers had to constantly move to other areas which resulted in deforestation. Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. Deforestation has caused so much environmental damage that you can see it from outer space.

Introduction

                                                  The Amazon rainforest is a highly dense and moist forest that takes up most of the Amazon Basin in South America. The Amazon rainforest covers five and a half million square kilometers and is known to be the largest tropical rainforest in the world. The rainforest is shared by nine different countries including Brazil, Peru, Colombia,Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.