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Geography

Where are Tropical Rainforests? Go to Rainforest Map Worksheet

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.

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