Table of Contents
Fast Facts
Quizzes
Animals & Nature
rainforest
ecosystem
Feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Category:
Animals & Nature
- Related Topics:
- tropical rainforest cloud forest tropical dry forest jungle equatorial rain forest
rainforest, also spelled rain forest, luxuriant forest, generally composed of tall, broad-leaved trees and usually found in wet tropical uplands and lowlands around the Equator. A brief treatment of rainforests follows. For full treatment, see tropical forest. Rainforests usually occur in regions where there is a high annual rainfall of generally more than 1,800 mm (70 inches) and a hot and steamy climate. The trees found in these regions are evergreen. Rainforests may also be found in areas of the tropics in which a dry season occurs, such as the “dry rainforests” of northeastern Australia. In these regions annual rainfall ...(100 of 920 words)