Jungle (terrain) - Definition and Overview

This article is about Jungle, the terrain. For alternate usages: see Jungle (disambiguation).

The word jungle refers usually to a forest. It originated from a Sanskrit word jangala, meaning wilderness. In many languages of the Indian subcontinent, including Indian English it is generally used to refer to any wild, untended or uncultivated land, including forest, scrub, or desert landscapes.

In other English speaking countries, it has come to have a generic meaning of dense forest, or a technical term for describing the forest biome rainforest. This refers to a forest of densely tangled plants (trees, vines, grasses and reeds). As a forest biome it is present in both equatorial and tropical climatic zones. The jungle has high biodiversity. The dense "jungle" of popular concept is associated with preclimax stages of the rainforest.

See also

• Rainforest

External links

• Link illustrating Biomes (http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/worldbiomes.html)