Tropical Rainforests? Go to Rainforest Map Printout |
Where are tropical rainforests? Tropical rainforests are
located in a band around the equator (Zero degrees latitude), mostly
in the area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N latitude) and
the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S latitude). This 3,000 mile
(4800 km) wide band is called the "tropics."
The
equator is an imaginary circle around the earth, halfway between
the north and south poles. Temperatures at the equator are high.
These high temperatures cause accelerated evaporation of water, which
results in frequent rain in forested areas in the tropics.
There are rainforests in South and Central America, Africa,
Oceania (the islands around Australia), and Asia. Tropical
rainforests cover only about 7% of the Earth's surface.
The largest rainforests are in the Amazon River Basin (South
America), the Congo River Basin (western Africa), and throughout much
of southeast Asia. Smaller rainforests are located in Central
America, Madagascar, Australia and nearby islands, India, and other
locations in the tropics.
There are only two seasons in a tropical rainforest, the wet season
and the dry season.
Temperate rainforests are found along the Pacific coast of the
USA and Canada (from northern California to Alaska), in New Zealand,
Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, Scotland and Norway. They cover less area
than tropical rainforests.
The Olympic rain forest (located on the Olympic peninsula in
the state of Washington, United States of America) is a temperate
rain forest near the Pacific ocean.