Why is the lion referred to as the king of the jungle when it doesn’t live in a jungle?

The word jungle (Sanskrit jangla) translates roughly to “not an inhabited place” in Hindi, and lions largely live in uninhabited places. Jangla can describe a forest, the wilderness, desert, etc.

There is no single authoritative source for this answer, but it seems to be the most accepted explanation.

INTERESTING FACTS

1. Lions eat around 18 pounds of meat per day. This is the equivalent of a human eating more than 70 hamburgers each day.
2. A lion can jump as far as 36 feet and run up to 50 mph in short bursts.
3. The most dangerous land animal in Africa is not the lion, it’s the hippopotamus. Hippos kill around 500 people each year.

INTERESTING VIDEO

INTERESTING REFERENCES

1. Reddit – ELI5: Why is the lion called “King of the Jungle” if they actually live in the savannah?
2. TheGuardian.com – Why is the lion referred to as “the king of the jungle” when it lives in open country?
3. FactRetriever.com – 92 Roaring Facts about Lions