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Which Continents Have Land in the Tropics?

The region known as the tropics extends northward and southward of the Equator to a latitude of approximately 23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south, respectively. These boundary latitudes are known as the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south and are astronomically significant as the northernmost and southernmost latitudes in which the sun appears directly overhead at least one day of the year. This region stretches over portions of five of the seven continents, with only Europe and Antarctica located completely outside the tropics.

Africa
- Almost all the nations of Africa have at least some portion of their territory within the tropics. Extending southward from southern Egypt, Libya and Algeria to Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar and the northern edge of South Africa, the tropics of Africa contain barren deserts, lush rainforests and fertile grasslands.
Asia
- Perhaps too familiar to many American veterans are the tropical forests of Vietnam, just as many American veterans a generation before were familiar with the wartime tropical hardships of the Philippine Islands. The Asian tropics extend westward through Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Bangladesh and India and southward to Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Contrasting with these drenched forested areas are the deserts of the southern Saudi Arabian peninsula.
Australia
- The Tropic of Capricorn cuts across Australia, and although much of Australia is desert, the northern portions of Australia are prone to monsoons and harbor both temperate and tropical forests. The Great Barrier Reef stretches more than 1600 miles along the northeastern coastline of Australia. Looking beyond Australia's coast across the Pacific Ocean, tropical destinations include New Caledonia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Palau and other Pacific islands, many which have become their own nation in recent decades.
North America
- The tropical region of North America winds northward from Panama through Central America to central Mexico and encompasses the island nations of the Caribbean. Although Canada and the United States often form the dominant image of North American nations, no part of Canada lies within the tropics, and only Hawaii and a few territories represent the United States in the region. Even in a post-Colonial era, some Caribbean islands have remained in the possession of non-tropical nations such as France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Although tropical forests cover much of the region, temperate and arid conditions become dominant in central Mexico.
South America
- The rainforests along the Amazon River are often associated with the tropics of South America; as they cover a large portion of the both the tropical region and the continent in general, this is understandable and, to a certain extent, appropriate. But the tropics extend from the northern coastlines of Colombia and Venezuela to the northernmost regions of Chile and Argentina. As with the other continents, the tropics in South America include a wide range of ecosystems in addition to tropical forests, such as the alpine tundra ecosystems in the mountains of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Uruguay is the only mainland South American nation completely outside the tropics.

Nature