The largest tropical wetland on Earth, spanning parts of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay in the upper basin of the Paraguay River, where an annual flood pulse submerges vast grasslands for months before receding into a dry season mosaic of lagoons and gallery forest. The seasonal rhythm of flood and drought supports one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in South America, including the largest population of jaguars on the continent, along with capybaras, giant otters, caimans and the towering jabiru stork. Recognized by UNESCO as the Pantanal Conservation Complex, the wetland has in recent years suffered increasingly severe dry season wildfires linked to drought and land clearing on its margins.
Facts
Disputed
Area (sq km)Estimates range from roughly 150,000 to 195,000 square kilometers depending on the boundary definition used and seasonal flood extent; this figure reflects a commonly cited conservative estimate. Classification
Biogeographic Realm Connections
Demonstrates
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Hosts
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source World Wildlife Fund
In Biome
The world's largest tropical wetland, a seasonally flooded freshwater grassland and marsh system fed by the Paraguay River and its tributaries.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.britannica.com/place/Pantanal, area estimate sentence
The Pantanal is one of the world's largest freshwater wetlands, and the extent of its seasonally dynamic area is estimated to be from 54,000 square miles (140,000 square km) to 81,000 square miles (210,000 square km).
- Biogeographic realm: neotropic (derived from location stated in entity description)
- Demonstrates: Water Cycle
- In Biome: Freshwater
View the Source World Wildlife Fund
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