Amazon rainforest Portuguese: Floresta amazônica Spanish: Selva amazónica Dutch: Amazoneregenwoud | |
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![]() Map of the Amazon rainforest ecoregions as delineated by the WWF in dark green[1] and the Amazon drainage basin in light green. | |
Geography | |
Location | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana (France), Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela |
Coordinates | 3°S 60°W / 3°S 60°W |
Area | 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) |
The Amazon rainforest,[a] also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi),[2] of which 6,000,000 km2 (2,300,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest.[3] This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 indigenous territories.
The majority of the forest, 60%, is in Brazil, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Four nations have "Amazonas" as the name of one of their first-level administrative regions, and France uses the name "Guiana Amazonian Park" for French Guiana's protected rainforest area. The Amazon represents over half of Earth's remaining rainforests,[4] and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees in about 16,000 species.[5]
More than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in the Amazon, which are subdivided into 9 different national political systems and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories. Indigenous peoples make up 9% of the total population, and 60 of the groups remain largely isolated.[6]
Large scale deforestation is occurring in the forest, creating different harmful effects. Economic losses due to deforestation in Brazil could be approximately 7 times higher in comparison to the cost of all commodities produced through deforestation. In 2023, the World Bank published a report proposing a non-deforestation based economic program in the region.[7][8]
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