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River

Jequitinhonha River

1,030 km from source to mouth · Brazil.

BrazilBrazilFlows into Atlantic Ocean

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

1,030km

Average flow

480m³/s

Basin

73,000km²

Drop

915m

from 915 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

1,030 km of river and 18 stops on the way: 8 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

915 m0 m
Sourceat 915 m0 km
Tabatinga Rivertributary179 km
Cachoeira Feia313 km
Cachoeira do Marimbo411 km
Cachoeira do Jacaré445 km
Itaobim19,151 people563 km
Jequitinhonha24,007 people645 km
Cachoeira Santana789 km
Cachoeira do Salto Grande807 km
Atlantic Oceanat 0 m1,030 km
02505007501,030 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 915 m
  2. 179 kmTabatinga Rivertributary
  3. 313 kmCachoeira Feia
  4. 397 kmItacambiruçu Rivertributary
  5. 411 kmCachoeira do Marimbo
  6. 445 kmCachoeira do Jacaré
  7. 449 kmCoronel Murta8,200 people
  8. 484 kmAraçuaí Rivertributary
  9. 526 kmItinga13,745 people
  10. 531 kmItinga Rivertributary
  11. 563 kmItaobim19,151 people
  12. 645 kmJequitinhonha24,007 people
  13. 698 kmAlmenara40,364 people
  14. 703 kmSão Francisco Rivertributary
  15. 754 kmJacinto11,042 people
  16. 789 kmCachoeira Santana
  17. 807 kmCachoeira do Salto Grande
  18. 863 kmItapebi9,174 people
  19. 977 kmBelmonte20,121 people
  20. 1,030 kmAtlantic Oceanat 0 m

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

River in Brazil

At the mouth it carries 485 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 5.2 seconds. It drops from 915 m to 0 m, 0.9 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 73,000 km², about the size of SL. 866,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to January; lowest: from June to September. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (18% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Jequitinhonha River, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Lowest water: from June to September. Best months to visit: from May to September.

1,200
25°142 mmJan
950
25°92 mmFeb
730
25°106 mmMar
510
23°59 mmApr
350
22°32 mmMay
190
21°25 mmJun
130
20°28 mmJul
110
22°19 mmAug
120
23°31 mmSep
260
24°84 mmOct
730
24°170 mmNov
1,200
24°184 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 110 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,200 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

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

Jequitinhonha River: the basin in numbers

70,981 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 18% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 866,000people live in the basin
  • 12/km²people per km²
  • 687maverage altitude of the basin
  • 987mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 21.9°Caverage air temperature
  • 4%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes
  • 2.8km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 20% Forest
  • 4% Cropland
  • 32% Pasture

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

Jequitinhonha River: what you find on the way

  • 2DamsBarragem de Itapebi
  • 2WaterfallsCachoeira do Poção, Cachoeira do Comércio
  • 1Boat ramps
  • 15Ferry piers
  • 3River beachesPraia do Ferreira, Praia do Lajedinho, Praia dos Canoeiros

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

Cross-checked with our atlases

Jequitinhonha 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.

  • 5waterfalls on the riverCascadyas

Waterfalls (5)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Cachoeira Feiakm 291
  2. Cachoeira do Marimbokm 383
  3. Cachoeira do Jacarékm 415
  4. Cachoeira Santanakm 736
  5. Cachoeira do Salto Grandekm 752

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Jequitinhonha River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Jequitinhonha River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth36 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

Jequitinhonha River in pictures

Rio Jequitinhonha 311
User:Chico · CC BY-SA 2.5
Campo, caracterizando a vegetação típica do Vale do Jequitinhonha
Ramon dos Santos Braga · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mendanha, Diamantina MG Brasil - Rio Jequitinhonha - panoramio
Josue Marinho · CC BY 3.0
Rio Jequitinhonha (21042181156)
Under the same moon... · CC BY 2.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (12)

Also: Araçuaí River, Tabatinga River, Itacambiruçu River, Itinga River, Macaúba River, Rubim do Sul River, Salinas River, São Francisco River, Piauí River, Rubim do Norte River, Vacaria River, São Miguel River

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q2742774) · 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 — 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