What is the difference between the Amazon Basin and the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 1

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The basin is located mainly (40%) in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries. The South American rain forest of the Amazon is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 with dense tropical forest.

The Amazon Rainforest (in Portuguese, Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonia), also known as Amazonia or Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), of which five and a half million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres) are covered by the rainforest.

This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, and with minor amounts in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

States or departments in four nations bear the name Amazonas after it. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.