What Is the Largest Forest in the World? | Amazon, Taiga & Congo

Short answer: The Amazon is the largest rainforest on Earth. If you mean the largest forest ecosystem or biome, the boreal forest, also called the taiga, covers a much larger belt across North America, Europe, and Asia. The Congo Basin contains the world's second-largest tropical forest after the Amazon.

Why is "the largest forest in the world" a tricky question?

The answer depends on what is being measured. A single rainforest, a national forest, a forest region, and a biome are not the same thing. Some lists mix protected parks, forest ecosystems, and enormous transcontinental forest belts as though they were directly comparable.

1. Amazon Rainforest - the largest rainforest on Earth

The Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest. NASA describes the Amazon basin as spanning at least 6 million square kilometers, with rainforest covering much of that basin. The forest stretches across several South American countries and plays a major role in regional rainfall, biodiversity, and carbon storage.

2. Boreal Forest or Taiga - the largest forest ecosystem

The boreal forest is not one single continuous named forest. It is a vast northern forest belt stretching across Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Russia. The U.S. National Park Service describes boreal forests as the largest terrestrial ecosystem on Earth and notes that they cover more than 10% of the planet's land area.

3. Congo Basin - the second-largest tropical forest

The Congo Basin contains the world's second-largest tropical forest after the Amazon. It spans six countries in Central Africa and supports extraordinary biodiversity, including forest elephants and great apes.

4. New Guinea Rainforests

New Guinea contains some of the largest remaining intact tropical forests in the world. WWF describes Papua New Guinea as hosting the third-largest intact tropical forest after the Amazon and Congo basins.

Other major forest regions worth knowing

Valdivian Temperate Rainforest

This cool, wet forest region stretches through parts of Chile and Argentina and is known for ancient evergreen forests and high endemism.

Tongass National Forest

Located in southeast Alaska, Tongass is the largest national forest in the United States and includes extensive temperate rainforest, islands, fjords, and old-growth forest.

Sundarbans

The Sundarbans, shared by Bangladesh and India, form the world's largest mangrove forest system and provide habitat for Bengal tigers, crocodiles, and many aquatic species.

Daintree Rainforest

Australia's Daintree is one of the world's oldest surviving tropical rainforest landscapes and is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland.

Selva Maya

The Selva Maya spans parts of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. NASA describes it as the largest tropical rainforest in Mesoamerica.

Largest Forest FAQ

What is the largest rainforest in the world?

The Amazon is the largest rainforest on Earth.

What is the second-largest tropical forest?

The Congo Basin contains the second-largest tropical forest after the Amazon.

Is the taiga bigger than the Amazon?

As a forest biome, the boreal forest or taiga covers a larger total area. But it is a transcontinental ecosystem rather than one single named rainforest.

Why do different websites give different answers?

Many lists use different definitions and compare protected forests, rainforest regions, national forests, and entire biomes. The most useful answer is to define the category first.

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