Pantanal
Tropical wetland in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay
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Key Takeaways
- The Pantanal ( Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐ̃taˈnaw] , Spanish pronunciation: [pantaˈnal] ) is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands.
- It sprawls over an area estimated at between 140,000 and 195,000 km 2 (54,000 and 75,000 sq mi).
- Roughly 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a dense array of animal species.
The Pantanal (Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐ̃taˈnaw], Spanish pronunciation: [pantaˈnal]) is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. It sprawls over an area estimated at between 140,000 and 195,000 km2 (54,000 and 75,000 sq mi). Various subregional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological, geological, and ecological characteristics; up to 12 of them have been defined.
Roughly 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a dense array of animal species.
Etymology
The name "Pantanal" comes from the Portuguese word pântano and the Spanish word pantano that mean "swamp", "wetland", "bog", "quagmire", or "marsh" plus the suffix -al, that means "abundance, agglomeration, collection".
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