Editing Amazon basin (section)

{{Short description|Major drainage basin in South America}}
{{About|the drainage basin|the geologic feature|Amazon Basin (sedimentary basin)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Amazonriverbasin basemap.png|thumb|Amazon River Basin (The southern [[The Guianas|Guianas]], not marked on this map, are a part of the basin.)]]
[[File:Mouths of amazon geocover 1990.png|thumb|The mouth of the Amazon River]]

The '''Amazon basin''' is the part of [[South America]] drained by the [[Amazon River]] and its [[tributary|tributaries]]. The Amazon [[drainage basin]] covers an area of about {{convert|7000000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}},<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River |title=Amazon River |website=britannica.com |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica }}</ref> or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of [[Bolivia]], [[Brazil]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Guyana]], [[Peru]], [[Suriname]], and [[Venezuela]], as well as the territory of [[French Guiana]].<ref>Goulding, M., Barthem, R. B. and Duenas, R. (2003). ''The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon'', Smithsonian Books {{ISBN|1-58834-135-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/amazon | title=Amazon | publisher=World Wildlife Fund | date=24 March 2023}}</ref>

Most of the basin is covered by the [[Amazon rainforest]], also known as [[Amazon rainforest|Amazonia]]. With a {{convert|5.5|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=unit}} area of dense [[tropical forest]], it is the largest [[rainforest]] in the world.