What is the Amazon basin covered by?
What is the Amazon basin covered by?
Amazon rainforest
Most of the basin is covered by the Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia. With a 5.5 million km2 (2.1 million sq mi) area of dense tropical forest, this is the largest rainforest in the world.
Is much of the Amazon basin is covered by the world’s largest rainforest?
The Amazon is the world’s biggest rainforest, larger than the next two largest rainforests — in the Congo Basin and Indonesia — combined. As of 2020, the Amazon has 526 million hectares of primary forest, which accounts for nearly 84% of the region’s 629 million hectares of total tree cover.
What is unique about the Amazon basin?
The Amazon is the most biodiverse terrestrial place on the planet. This amazing rainforest is home to more species of birds, plants and mammals than anywhere else in the world. The outstanding biodiversity in the Amazon isn’t only important for the natural ecosystems, it also provides many benefits to us humans.
What is the Amazon basin also known as?
The Amazon river basin is also called the lungs of the earth. The Amazon basin lies in the Continent of South America. • It covers the countries of Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia.
Why is the Amazon Basin important?
The Amazon rainforest plays an important part in regulating the world’s oxygen and carbon cycles. It produces roughly six percent of the world’s oxygen and has long been thought to act as a carbon sink, meaning it readily absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
How much does the Amazon rainforest cover?
Amazon Rainforest, large tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km).
What is the Amazon basin used for?
Why is the Amazon basin a unique region?
Not only does the Amazon encompass the single largest remaining tropical rainforest in the world, it also houses at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity, including endemic and endangered flora and fauna, and its river accounts for 15-16% of the world’s total river discharge into the oceans.
How is the Amazon basin formed?
Formed by the Amazon River and its tributaries, the Amazon basin spans over nine countries of South America, from the Eastern foot of the Andean mountains towards the Atlantic Ocean.
What is the Amazon used for?
The Amazon is used for its abundant natural resources of food, timber, fresh water and oxygen-producing foliage—but most of all, it’s a home.
Where do you find basins?
Ocean basins are the largest depressions on Earth. Edges of the continents, called continental shelves, form the sides of ocean basins. There are five major ocean basins, coordinating with the major oceans of the world: the Pacific basin, the Atlantic basin, the Indian basin, the Arctic basin, and the Southern basin.
Is the Amazon Basin the same as the Amazon rainforest?
Most of the basin is covered by the Amazon Rainforest, also known as Amazonia. With a 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) area of dense tropical forest, this is the largest rainforest in the world.
Where is the Amazon basin located in South America?
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about 7,500,000 km2 (2,900,000 sq mi), or roughly 40 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
How many rivers does the Amazon basin have?
The Amazon Basin contains numerous rivers and tributaries, numbering into the thousands, and the collective flow of water from these sources, into the ocean, is approximately a sixth of the world’s total.
Where does the Amazon River drain its water?
Take in the beauty of the Amazon Basin. The tropical Amazon Basin includes the Amazon River and surrounding areas, in South America, and it drains large volumes of water into the Atlantic Ocean.
