River
Grande River
1,090 km from source to mouth · Brazil.
BrazilFlows into Paraná River
In numbers
Length
1,090km
Average flow
2,000m³/s
Basin
170,000km²
Drop
603m
from 926 m to 323 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,090 km of river and 30 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 926 m
- 46 kmAiuruoca Rivertributary
- 73 kmCamargos reservoir56 km²
- 79 kmItutinga Dam
- 118 kmRio das Mortestributary
- 203 kmJacaré Rivertributary
- 325 kmSapucaí Rivertributary
- 344 kmFurnas Reservoir928 km²
- 345 kmFurnas Dam
- 449 kmReprêsa de Peixoto250 km²
- 449 kmMascarenhas de Morais Dam
- 478 kmCachoeira da Onça
- 480 kmReprêsa de Estreito42 km²
- 480 kmLuiz Barreto Dam
- 503 kmJaguara reservoir30 km²
- 504 kmJaguara Dam
- 550 kmDelta10,494 people
- 624 kmVolta Grande Dam
- 675 kmBarra Bonita Reservoir129 km²
- 685 kmriver Pardotributary
- 690 kmPlanura11,145 people
- 796 kmCachoeira do Marimbondo
- 800 kmMaribondo
- 800 kmMarimbondo Dam
- 911 kmCachoeira dos Índios
- 916 kmTurvo Rivertributary
- 965 kmÁgua Vermelha Reservoir507 km²
- 966 kmSalto da Água Vermelha
- 966 kmÁgua Vermelha Dam
- 985 kmCachoeira do Monte Alto
- 1,016 kmCachoeira da Motuca
- 1,090 kmParaná Riverat 323 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in south central Brazil
At the mouth it carries 2,000 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.2 seconds. It drops from 926 m to 323 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 170,000 km², about the size of UY. 8.9 million people live in it. Highest water: from January to March; lowest: from July to October. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 72% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- PlanuraLargest city on its banks · 11,145 people
- Mário de Almeida Franco Airport (UBA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 88 km from the cityCar hire at UDI airport (Uberlândia)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water41 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Grande River, month by month
Highest water: from January to March
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 660 m³/s in the lowest month to 5,400 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
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The basin
Grande River: the basin in numbers
143,351 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 8.9millionpeople live in the basin
- 62/km²people per km²
- 792maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,451mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 20.7°Caverage air temperature
- 5%protected areas
- 2.0%covered by lakes
- 52km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 6% Forest
- 27% Cropland
- 41% Pasture
- 2% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Grande River: what you find on the way
- 17WaterfallsCachoeira do Nélio, Cachoeira do Funil, Cachoeira do Chapadão and 14 more
- 17Boat rampsRampa Municipal and 16 more
- 20Ferry piersBalsa, Paulo de Faria, Itapagipe and 17 more
- 4MarinasMariana, Maré Alta and 2 more
- 4River beachesPraia de Rifaina, Prainha and 2 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Grande River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
7waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
7lakes on its wayLakeyas
Waterfalls (7)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Cachoeira da Onçakm 493
- Cachoeira do Marimbondokm 821
- Maribondokm 825
- Cachoeira dos Índioskm 939
- Salto da Água Vermelhakm 996
- Cachoeira do Monte Altokm 1,016
- Cachoeira da Motucakm 1,048
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (7)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Camargos reservoirkm 7556km²
- Furnas Reservoirkm 355928km²
- Reprêsa de Peixotokm 463250km²
- Reprêsa de Estreitokm 49542km²
- Jaguara reservoirkm 51930km²
- Barra Bonita Reservoirkm 696129km²
- Água Vermelha Reservoirkm 996507km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Grande River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Paraná River
Uruguay4,880 km16,000 m³/sTributaries (15)
Also: river Pardo, Sapucaí River, Turvo River, Rio das Mortes, Aiuruoca River, Jacaré River, Paulo Diniz River, Santana River, Uberaba River, Sapucaí River, Canoas River, Ingaí River, Rio São Pedro, Carmo River, São João River
In the same basin
Argentina2,621 km2.7 m³/sUruguay RiverUruguay1,790 km4.6 m³/sIguazu RiverArgentina1,320 km1,700 m³/sPilcomayo River
Paraguay1,100 km200 m³/sBermejoParaguay1,060 km340 m³/sTietê RiverBrazil1,150 km2,500 m³/sSalado RiverArgentina1,150 km15 m³/sParanaíba RiverBrazil900 km1,500 m³/sParanapanema RiverBrazil929 km1,200 m³/sApa RiverParaguay380 km130 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q386331) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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