jungle

thumb|upright=1.25|Jungle in Cambodia thumb|upright|Jungle on Tioman Island, [[Malaysia]] thumb|El Yunque National Forest in [[Puerto Rico, the only tropical rainforest managed by the U.S. National Forest Service]] A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Because jungles occur on all inhabited landmasses and may incorporate numerous vegetation and land types in different climatic zones, the wildlife of jungles cannot be straightforwardly defined.

==Etymology== The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jaṅgala (), meaning rough and arid. It came into the English language in the 18th century via the Hindustani word for forest (Hindi/Urdu: /) (Jangal). Jāṅgala has also been variously transcribed in English as jangal, jangla, jungal, and juṅgala. It has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its connotation as a dense "tangled thicket". The term is prevalent in many languages of the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian Plateau, where it is commonly used to refer to the plant growth replacing primeval forest or to the unkempt tropical vegetation that takes over abandoned areas. thumb|Mound from Los Naranjos, Honduras|Los Naranjos archeological site in [[Honduras]]