Jungle

From Open Encyclopedia

For other uses of "Jungle", see Jungle (disambiguation).

Image:Box Log Falls.jpg 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, the term is a colloquialism used generically for dense forest in hot climates. In this context, the use of the term (which may sometimes be accompanied with adjectives such as "dark and steamy"), is as much a description of a natural habitat as a social construct which is part of the cultural imagination. Many examples of this concept can be found in art in literature: the fanciful jungle paintings of Henri Rousseau, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, The Jungle Book, and Tarzan.

The term may still be used in a technical context to describe the forest biome rainforest, a forest characterised by extensive biodiversity and densely tangled plants such as trees, vines, grasses and reeds. As a forest biome, "jungles" are present in both equatorial and tropical climatic zones, and are associated with preclimax stages of the rainforest.