This biome occupies an area of 4,196,943 km², which represents more than 40% of the country of Brazil and consists mostly of a tropical forest. The Amazon is in the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará and Roraima, and certain regions of Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Tocantins states. The Amazon is made up of various ecosystems and dense forests, deciduous forests, flooded fields, meadows, grasslands, mountain refuges and pioneer formations.

Even though this biome is the most preserved of the Brazilian biomes, about 16% of its area has been destroyed, which is equivalent to two times the area of Sao Paulo state.

Deforestation, fires, mining, illegal exploitation of biological materials, and farming represent the main environmental problems in Amazon biome. All of these actions are responsible for severe climate change on the planet, such as global warming.

Amazon is considered a great "cooler" of the atmosphere and is the largest of the world's biodiversity refuges, with some research indicating that in the Amazon there are about thirty million species of animals.