The Amazon Rainforest is a rainforest in Brazil that comprises about 40 percent of the country’s total area. It covers an area of 2,300,000 square miles. The rainforest is surrounded by many physical features: to the north is the Guiana Highlands, to the west are the Andes Mountains, the Brazilian central plateau is to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean is to the east. With the Amazon's wet climate, high rainfall, and humidity, the Amazon Rainforest boasts a unique variety of species and insects and holds rich vegetation with many different types of trees and plants (Britannica). The size of the rainforest has significantly decreased due to settlers trying to acquire as much land and lumber as possible. In the 1990s, the Brazilian government began to take action to preserve the forest, which helped overall, but unfortunately, they could not stop the deforestation caused by individuals (Britannica). Today, 75,000 fires occurred in the Brazilian Amazon during the first half of 2019 (an increase of 85 percent over 2018). The Amazon Rainforest is a very unique part of Brazil.