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River

Iguazu River

1,320 km from source to mouth · Argentina and Brazil.

ArgentinaBrazilArgentina and BrazilFlows into Paraná River3rd longest in Argentina

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

1,320km

Average flow

1,700m³/s

Basin

62,000km²

Drop

774m

from 881 m to 107 m

Countries

2

The journey

From source to mouth

1,320 km of river and 38 stops on the way: 8 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

881 m107 m
Serra do Marat 881 m0 km
Córrego Salto Caiacanga130 km
Potinga Rivertributary290 km
Paciência Rivertributary320 km
Jangada Rivertributary469 km
Foz do Areia Reservoir77 km²557 km
Salto Santiago804 km
Salto Osório882 km
Salto Sampaio1,054 km
Salto Faraday1,057 km
Salto Cuatro Hermanas1,226 km
Paraná Riverat 107 m1,320 km
05001,0001,320 km
  1. 0 kmSerra do Marat 881 m
  2. 15 kmPinhais117,000 people
  3. 26 kmSão José dos Pinhais349,880 people
  4. 32 kmBelém Rivertributary
  5. 68 kmAraucária162,247 people
  6. 77 kmPassa Una Rivertributary
  7. 101 kmBalsa Nova13,395 people
  8. 130 kmCórrego Salto Caiacanga
  9. 253 kmSão Mateus do Sul46,705 people
  10. 290 kmPotinga Rivertributary
  11. 320 kmPaciência Rivertributary
  12. 358 kmIrineópolis10,285 people
  13. 380 kmTimbó Rivertributary
  14. 423 kmPorto União35,543 people
  15. 425 kmUnião da Vitória57,913 people
  16. 469 kmJangada Rivertributary
  17. 476 kmPalmital Rivertributary
  18. 504 kmIratinzinho Rivertributary
  19. 557 kmFoz do Areia Reservoir77 km²
  20. 617 kmIratim Rivertributary
  21. 750 kmCavernoso Rivertributary
  22. 804 kmSalto Santiago
  23. 852 kmDas Cobras Rivertributary
  24. 882 kmSalto Osório
  25. 904 kmChopim Rivertributary
  26. 924 kmGuarani Rivertributary
  27. 984 kmTormenta Rivertributary
  28. 1,038 kmCapanema Rivertributary
  29. 1,054 kmSalto Sampaio
  30. 1,057 kmSalto Faraday
  31. 1,104 kmFloriano Rivertributary
  32. 1,119 kmBenjamim Constant Rivertributary
  33. 1,134 kmSan Antonio Rivertributary
  34. 1,197 kmSalto Caniguá
  35. 1,226 kmSalto Cuatro Hermanas
  36. 1,248 kmSalto Irene
  37. 1,260 kmDevil's Throat
  38. 1,260 kmIguaçu Falls
  39. 1,266 kmTancredo Neves Bridge
  40. 1,320 kmParaná Riverat 107 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Paraná, Brazil

At the mouth it carries 1,746 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.4 seconds. It drops from 881 m to 107 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 62,000 km², about the size of LV. 5.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from February to March and from October to November. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (36% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • São José dos PinhaisLargest city on its banks · 349,880 people
  • Curitiba-Afonso Pena International Airport (CWB)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 3 km from the cityCar hire at CWB airport (Curitiba)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water53 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe2 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From April to May, from July to August and NovemberThe best months to visit

Iguazu River, month by month

Highest water: from February to March and from October to November

Best months to visit: from April to May, from July to August and November.

1,900
23°182 mmJan
2,200
22°172 mmFeb
2,000
21°135 mmMar
1,700
18°116 mmApr
1,400
15°106 mmMay
1,700
14°140 mmJun
1,500
14°97 mmJul
1,500
15°109 mmAug
1,600
17°150 mmSep
2,100
19°185 mmOct
2,000
20°125 mmNov
1,900
22°159 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 1,400 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,200 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

Car hire at CWB airport (Curitiba)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Iguazu River: the basin in numbers

67,231 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 36% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 5.1millionpeople live in the basin
  • 75/km²people per km²
  • 799maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,695mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 17.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 4%protected areas
  • 0.7%covered by lakes
  • 21km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 34% Forest
  • 25% Cropland
  • 19% Pasture
  • 3% 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

Iguazu River: what you find on the way

  • 13DamsUHE Salto Osório, PCH Foz do Chopim and 11 more
  • 2WeirsPCH Foz do Chopim
  • 39WaterfallsCachoeira do Alemão, Cachoeira Linha do Tiro, Cachoeira Foz do Rio Tigre and 36 more
  • 2RapidsCorredeiras do Faraday, Corredeiras da Vaca Branca
  • 10Boat rampsEmbarcadero and 9 more
  • 42Ferry piersPaula Pereira, Putinga, São Mateus do Sul and 39 more
  • 1MarinasMarina Parque Histórico Iguassu
  • 2River beachesparque aquático de Quedas do Iguaçu, Praia Artificial da Barra Bonita

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Iguazu 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.

  • 10waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 16mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (10)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Salto Santiagokm 584
  2. Salto Sampaiokm 765
  3. Salto Faradaykm 768
  4. Salto Caniguákm 869
  5. Salto Cuatro Hermanaskm 890
  6. Salto Irenekm 906
  7. Iguaçu Fallskm 91582m
  8. Devil's Throatkm 915

2 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Foz do Areia Reservoirkm 40477km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (16)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mount Anhangava0.4 km away
  2. Conjunto Marumbi11 km away
  3. Pico do Anhangava0.4 km away
  4. Pico Pão de Loth2.3 km away
  5. Pico Caratuba9.1 km away
  6. Morro Pelado6.8 km away
  7. Pico do Sete11 km away
  8. Morro da Farinha Seca8.8 km away

8 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Iguazu River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Iguazu River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth35 km across

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

Iguazu River in pictures

Confluence of the Iguazu and Parana rivers, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, Argentina, 6th. Jan. 2011 - Flickr - PhillipC
Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand · CC BY 2.0
A view of Iguazu Falls from the Argentina side (22329)
Horacio Cambeiro · CC BY 4.0
Basalto presente en el rio Iguazú
Oke Segarte · CC BY 4.0
Cataratas iguacu high-03
Gruhh · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Paraná RiverUruguayUruguay4,880 km16,000 m³/s

Tributaries (35)

Also: San Antonio River, Chopim River, Jangada River, Timbó River, Negro River, Potinga River, Belém River, Benjamim Constant River, Capanema River, Cavernoso River, Das Cobras River, Floriano River, Paciência River, Palmital River, Tormenta River, Guarani River, Iratim River, Iratinzinho River, Butiá River, Capivara River, Claro River, Cotegipe River, Da Areia River, Das Marrecas River

In the same basin

Paraguay RiverArgentinaArgentina2,621 km2.7 m³/sUruguay RiverUruguayUruguay1,790 km4.6 m³/sPilcomayo RiverParaguayParaguay1,100 km200 m³/sBermejoParaguayParaguay1,060 km340 m³/sGrande RiverBrazilBrazil1,090 km2,000 m³/sTietê RiverBrazilBrazil1,150 km2,500 m³/sSalado RiverArgentinaArgentina1,150 km15 m³/sParanaíba RiverBrazilBrazil900 km1,500 m³/sParanapanema RiverBrazilBrazil929 km1,200 m³/sApa RiverParaguayParaguay380 km130 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Pilcomayo RiverParaguayParaguay1,100 km200 m³/s326 km awayParanapanema RiverBrazilBrazil929 km1,200 m³/s363 km awayBermejoParaguayParaguay1,060 km340 m³/s414 km awayParaguay RiverArgentinaArgentina2,621 km2.7 m³/s457 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q191635) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas — 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?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit