The Amazon Rainforest, often called the “lungs of the Earth,” is the largest tropical rainforest on the planet and one of its most powerful life-support systems. It quietly regulates global climate patterns, stores immense amounts of carbon, and shelters an extraordinary diversity of plants, animals, and human cultures. When people ask where the Amazon Rainforest is located, they are really asking how one place can play such an outsized role in the health of the entire planet.
Understanding where the Amazon is means understanding its geography, its scale, and its influence. This guide brings together the questions people most often search for—where the Amazon Rainforest is in the world, which countries it spans, how big it is, and why it matters—to tell the story of an ecosystem unlike any other on Earth.
Amazon Rainforest: Where in the World?
The Amazon Rainforest is located in South America, stretching across the northern half of the continent and straddling the equator. Its tropical position gives it year-round warmth, heavy rainfall, and intense humidity, creating ideal conditions for dense forests and an explosion of life, from towering canopy trees to microscopic organisms hidden in the soil.
Most of the Amazon lies in the Southern Hemisphere, roughly between 5° north and 15° south latitude. This equatorial location powers the rainforest’s vast water cycle, generating rainfall not only for the forest itself but also for distant regions, influencing weather patterns far beyond South America.
Amazon Rainforest Map Overview
Seen on a world map, the Amazon appears as a massive green swath stretching across northern South America. While Brazil contains about 60% of the rainforest, the Amazon is not confined to a single nation. It spans nine countries, making it one of the most internationally shared ecosystems on the planet.
Beyond Brazil, large portions of the rainforest lie in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. This immense, multi-country footprint makes conservation especially complex, as environmental decisions in one country can ripple across borders and affect the entire ecosystem.
The Amazon Rainforest in South America
The Amazon forms the ecological heart of South America’s tropical zone. Its forests, rivers, and floodplains are deeply woven into the continent’s climate systems, agricultural cycles, and cultural history. At the center of this vast region lies the Amazon Basin, covering about 6.7 million square kilometers and drained by the Amazon River, the second-longest river in the world and the largest by volume.
In nature, the Amazon is not divided by political borders. Indigenous communities, wildlife migration routes, and river systems move freely across countries, turning the rainforest into a living bridge that connects the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean and stabilizes climates across the continent.
Amazon Forest: In Which Country?
Although Brazil is most closely associated with the Amazon, the rainforest is truly a shared international ecosystem. Brazil holds the largest portion and faces intense pressure from deforestation, while Peru protects some of the most remote and biologically intact regions. Colombia’s Amazon plays a crucial role in water flow and wildlife corridors, linking forests across the northwest.
Smaller portions in Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are exceptionally rich in unique species. Each country brings its own environmental policies, economic challenges, and conservation strategies, making cooperation essential if the Amazon is to survive as a functioning whole.
How Big Is the Amazon Rainforest?
The scale of the Amazon is difficult to comprehend. Covering roughly 5.5 million square kilometers, it is larger than the entire European Union and nearly as large as the continental United States. When the surrounding river systems are included, the Amazon Basin expands to nearly 7 million square kilometers.
This immense size allows the rainforest to act as a global climate regulator. Its forests store enormous quantities of carbon, influence atmospheric circulation, and help maintain balance in Earth’s climate systems, far beyond the borders of South America.
Fascinating Facts About the Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon is as mysterious as it is vast. During daylight hours, its trees collectively produce enormous amounts of oxygen through photosynthesis, while dense vegetation helps generate rainfall through powerful moisture cycles. In just one square kilometer, tens of thousands of tons of living plant matter may exist.
Archaeological discoveries have revealed that advanced civilizations once managed parts of the forest, shaping landscapes long before modern development. Despite centuries of exploration, the Amazon remains one of the least fully understood regions on the planet.
Why the Amazon Rainforest Is So Important
The Amazon is vital not only to South America but to the entire planet. It acts as a massive carbon sink, storing an estimated 100 billion metric tons of carbon and helping slow the pace of global warming. By releasing moisture into the atmosphere, it also shapes rainfall patterns across continents.
Beyond climate, the Amazon supports millions of people, thousands of cultures, and an irreplaceable web of life. Protecting it is not just an environmental concern—it is a global responsibility tied directly to the future stability of Earth’s climate, biodiversity, and human societies.
