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The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rain forest on Earth.
The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rain forest on Earth.
It is about the size of the lower 48 states of the United States. It covers 40% of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries!
The Amazon rainforest is home to more plant and animal species than any other place on earth.
10% of the world’s known species live in the Amazon rainforest.
20% of the world’s bird species live in the Amazon rainforest.
It is home to around 2 and a half million different insect species as well as over 40,000 plant species.
The Amazon Rain forest is home to the Amazon River. The Amazon River is the second longest in the world, but the first in how much water it holds. It holds eleven times the water of the Mississippi, and drains an area equivalent in size to the United States. It also holds 1/5th of the world's fresh water!
Because of the coverage of the canopy, the ground of the rain forest is almost completely dark! And when it rains, it takes almost 10 minutes for rain to reach the bottom of the rain forest!
Some other interesting facts:
Many modern medicines derive from plants found in the rain forest, and this is just from the 1% that have been tested for medicinal properties.
Most of our food originally comes from the rain forests of the Amazon. Amazon derived products include bananas, black pepper, chocolate, coffee, corn, pineapple, rice and tomatoes.
An estimated fifty tribes native to the Amazon rain forest have never had any contact with the rest of the world.
Discovering our World 🌎2025
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