Time Difference: 4 hours behind Greenwich time, and 1 hour behind the rest of the Brazilian states, except for Acre which is 1 hour ahead.

Climate: Equatorial (hot and humid). Average temperature 89.6º F. The rainy season runs from December through June (it rains almost every day). The rest of the year is the dry season with intense sun and temperatures around 100.4º F. September temperatures can climb to around 104º F. Short but heavy showers are frequent.

Geographical Location: Located in the centre of Brazil's Northern Region, bordered to the North by the State of Roraima, Venezuela and Colombia; to the East by the State of Pará; to the Southeast by the State of Mato Grosso; to the South bye the State of Rondônia and to the Southwest by the State of Acre and by Peru.

Hidrography: Forms the largest water basin in the world with 6,217,220 km². Its main rivers are the Amazon, the Negro, the Solimões, the Juruá and the Madeira. Relief: Characterized by dry land wich is very flat and low level. The higher ground, largely made up of the Itapirapecó, Imeri, Urucuzeiro and Cupim ranges, is on the border with the State of Roraima and with Venezuela. This is where Pico da Neblina (3,014m), Brazil's highest point, is located.

The Amazonian Plain is made up of: Floodplains, locally known as Várzeas (swamp forest flooded by blackwater rivers for extended periods) and Igapós (flooded forest flooded by seasonal whitewater rivers); and Dry Land.

Vegetation: Vegetation is dense, heterogeneous and deep green in colour. It covers 90% of the area's surface.

Types of forests in the region: Perenifólia Hileiana Amazônica Forest (dry land forest); Perenifólia Paludosa Ribeirinha Forest - flooded during seasonal periods (várzea forest); and Igapó Forest - permanently flooded.

The tourist that visits the Amazon has the opportunity to acknowledge Tropical Forest's mysteries, being able to enjoy the comfort of trained guides or the possibility of perform, by him/herself, the "Jungle Survival Specialization Course", which is furnished by The Brazilian Army.

The junglehotels are enterprises built in the forests or in the river's borders. In addition, they could be floating lodges on the Amazon lakes. Two types of structures are found, lodges (resorts) and small bungalows.

There are many superlatives on the touristics attractions, such as the largest river archipelago in the world, Anavilhanas, which is located on the Negro river and it is formed by approximately 400 islands. Brazilian Federal Laws protects this area, which has about 350.000 hectares. The Anavilhanas region is located in the vicinity of the "Jaú National Park", the largest forest reservation in South America. It has about 2.27 milion hectares, also marshed by Negro river. There are abundant fauna, flora and animals, some of which are almost extinct, such as manatee and giant river otter.

The Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reservation is the habitat of many curious mammals and exists like an ecological station since 1990. It has more than 300 fish species, including ornamental fishes, about 400 species of birds and some 45 species of mammals. One of the most strange mammals is the Uacari-branco (Cacajao calvus), a monkey, which weighs about 4 kg and eats immature fruit seeds.

Neblina Peak, the highest peak in Brazil, is located in the habitat of the most expressive Brazilian Amerindian tribe, the Yanomamis.

The Meeting of the Waters is a phenomenon that happens approximately 6 miles downstream from Manaus, where the Negro river's black waters and the Solimões river's brown, silty waters meet. They run side by side for about 6 km and never mix their waters. Below this point they form The Amazon River extending up to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. A nature's fancy very appreciated by tourists. Unique water conditions such as density, temperature and speed explain this phenomenon.