More Information about the
Tropical Rainforest and the
Amazon Rainforest
Rainforests grow in an area around the middle of the Earth
called the equator or tropics where it is always hot and rainy.
Because there is no cold or dry season that would stop the growth
of the rainforest, it stays green all year round. In most
rainforests, it rains nearly every day. Rainforests receive 160
to 400 inches of rain each year. The temperature in the day is
usually about 30 degrees Celsius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The
temperature in a rainforest rarely rises above 34 degrees Celsius
or 93 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature rarely drops below
20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. These hot, wet
forests are called tropical rainforests.
By far the largest rainforest is found in South America,
where it covers much of the basin of the Amazon River. This is
the Amazon Rainforest!
The average annual rainfall of the Amazon Rainforest is 50 to
120 inches of rain. Temperatures in the rainforest average about
27 degrees Celsius or 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Amazon Rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and
animal life than any other place in the world. Tens of thousands
of different kinds of plants live there. More than 1,500 kinds of
birds make their homes in the rainforest. The region's rivers
contain about 3,000 known kinds of fish. Scientists believe that
as many as 30 million different kinds of insects may live in the
rainforest also!