River
Marañón River
1,737 km from source to mouth · Peru.
PeruFlows into Amazon River1st longest in Peru
In numbers
Length
1,737km
Average flow
16,700m³/s
Basin
350,000km²
Drop
454m
from 541 m to 87 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,737 km of river and 15 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 541 m
- 334 kmAtalaya16,700 people
- 775 kmSan Fernando67,844 people
- 805 kmLaguna Brasil0.6 km²
- 906 kmLaguna Cashibomuyuna5.3 km²
- 916 kmLaguna Lopuna0.6 km²
- 933 kmLaguna Cupiso0.3 km²
- 970 kmLaguna Huasán0.6 km²
- 1,001 kmContamana20,900 people
- 1,531 kmLaguna Jíbaro0.7 km²
- 1,548 kmRequena25,300 people
- 1,548 kmLaguna Lobococha6.2 km²
- 1,578 kmLaguna Vainilla0.5 km²
- 1,582 kmLaguna Supay1.1 km²
- 1,588 kmLaguna Capite0.9 km²
- 1,653 kmLaguna La Moringa1.3 km²
- 1,737 kmAmazon Riverat 87 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Peru
At the mouth it carries 16,708 m³/s on average: 6.7 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 541 m to 87 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 350,000 km², about the size of DE. 4.8 million people live in it. Highest water: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- San FernandoLargest city on its banks · 67,844 people
- Cap FAP David Abenzur Rengifo International Airport (PCL)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 5 km from the cityCar hire in TarapotoDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water38 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Marañón River, month by month
Highest water: from January to April
Best months to visit: from June to August.
From about 6,400 m³/s in the lowest month to 21,000 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
Marañón River: the basin in numbers
353,729 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 4.8millionpeople live in the basin
- 14/km²people per km²
- 1,771maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,576mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 18.6°Caverage air temperature
- 32%protected areas
- 0.4%covered by lakes
- 0.8km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 65% Forest
- 3% Cropland
- 16% 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
Marañón River: what you find on the way
- 1Boat ramps
- 32Ferry piersAtalaya and 31 more
- 5MarinasIparìa River Port and 4 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Marañón 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.
11lakes on its wayLakeyas
Lakes and reservoirs (11)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Laguna Brasilkm 8290.6km²
- Laguna Cashibomuyunakm 9345.3km²
- Laguna Huasánkm 1,0000.6km²
- Laguna Jíbarokm 1,5780.7km²
- Laguna Lobocochakm 1,5966.2km²
- Laguna Supaykm 1,6301.1km²
- Laguna Capitekm 1,6370.9km²
- Laguna La Moringakm 1,7031.3km²
3 more on LakeyasLakeyas 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
Marañón River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Amazon River
Brazil6,400 km209,000 m³/sTributaries (30)
Peru1,080 km3,800 m³/sPastaza RiverPeru710 km2,300 m³/sTigre RiverPeru598 km2,700 m³/sAlso: Santiago River, Utcubamba River, Morona River, Chinchipe River, Cenepa River, Lawriqucha River, Nieva River, Nupe River, Urqumayu, Yanamayo River, Chiriaco River, Puchca River, Chambira River, Crisnegas River, Actuy River, Cahuapanas River, Chamaya River, Chusgon River, Llamara River, Mayas River, Nucuray River, Potro River, Samiria River, San Sebastián River
In the same basin
Brazil2,250 km30,000 m³/sMadeira RiverBrazil1,450 km31,200 m³/sUcayali RiverPeru1,460 km12,600 m³/sJapurá RiverBrazil2,820 km13,900 m³/sXingu RiverBrazil1,640 km9,700 m³/sMamoré RiverBrazil1,930 km11,600 m³/sJuruá RiverBrazil3,100 km4,800 m³/sTapajós RiverBrazil1,930 km13,000 m³/sPutumayo RiverBrazil1,610 km7,000 m³/sPurus RiverBrazil2,960 km8.4 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q200174) · 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 | 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit