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River

Mindanao River

373 km from source to mouth · Philippines.

PhilippinesPhilippinesFlows into Celebes Sea2nd longest in Philippines

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

373km

Average flow

600m³/s

Basin

16,000km²

Drop

779m

from 779 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

373 km of river and 33 stops on the way: 29 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

779 m0 m
Sourceat 779 m0 km
Cabanglasan5,423 people50 km
NIA Valencia223,620 people109 km
Maramag109,864 people132 km
Hawley Falls199 km
Porter Falls205 km
Pikit14,998 people273 km
Talitay19,750 people277 km
Maguindanao1,667,258 people349 km
Celebes Seaat 0 m373 km
0100200300373 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 779 m
  2. 0 kmCalabugao5,982 people
  3. 50 kmCabanglasan5,423 people
  4. 100 kmMailag5,388 people
  5. 109 kmNIA Valencia223,620 people
  6. 125 kmDologon15,128 people
  7. 130 kmPulangi Lake10 km²
  8. 132 kmMaramag109,864 people
  9. 162 kmMiaray3,190 people
  10. 172 kmNatalungan3,165 people
  11. 199 kmHawley Falls
  12. 205 kmPorter Falls
  13. 237 kmCarmen8,759 people
  14. 248 kmMalapag3,306 people
  15. 263 kmTungol3,976 people
  16. 273 kmPikit14,998 people
  17. 275 kmPagalungan5,932 people
  18. 277 kmTalitay19,750 people
  19. 279 kmBuliok3,713 people
  20. 295 kmKalbugan3,226 people
  21. 318 kmDamabalas3,230 people
  22. 319 kmDatu Piang8,178 people
  23. 322 kmDamatulan3,330 people
  24. 323 kmPulangi Rivertributary
  25. 325 kmDado5,184 people
  26. 342 kmPagaluñgan31,052 people
  27. 349 kmMaguindanao1,667,258 people
  28. 352 kmKatidtuan4,710 people
  29. 356 kmDalumangcob9,424 people
  30. 363 kmSultan Kudarat124,965 people
  31. 363 kmGang3,317 people
  32. 363 kmSalimbao4,347 people
  33. 364 kmCotabato383,383 people
  34. 367 kmLimbo4,842 people
  35. 373 kmCelebes Seaat 0 m

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

Second largest river system in the Philippines

At the mouth it carries 603 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 4.1 seconds. It drops from 779 m to 0 m, 2.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 16,000 km², about the size of TL. 4.2 million people live in it. Highest water: from July to October; lowest: March. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Mindanao River, month by month

Highest water: from July to October

Lowest water: March. Best months to visit: from December to March.

420
26°103 mmJan
330
26°101 mmFeb
300
26°103 mmMar
340
27°132 mmApr
560
27°248 mmMay
780
27°267 mmJun
900
26°245 mmJul
850
26°223 mmAug
820
26°234 mmSep
830
26°244 mmOct
760
26°182 mmNov
600
26°129 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 300 m³/s in the lowest month to 900 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 DVO airport (Davao)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

Mindanao River: the basin in numbers

20,064 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.5% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 4.2millionpeople live in the basin
  • 214/km²people per km²
  • 472maverage altitude of the basin
  • 2,251mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 24.7°Caverage air temperature
  • 12%protected areas
  • 1.1%covered by lakes
  • 0.1km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 13% Forest
  • 50% Cropland
  • 1% Pasture
  • 12% 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

Mindanao River: what you find on the way

  • 2DamsPulangi Dam
  • 1WeirsLumbayao Diversion Dam
  • 3WaterfallsTwin Falls, Maramag Falls, Lasang Falls
  • 1River beachesMilusok Cold Spring

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Mindanao 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.

  • 2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 7mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (2)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Hawley Fallskm 177
  2. Porter Fallskm 182

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Pulangi Lakekm 11510km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (7)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mount Taguimot11 km away
  2. Mount Tago12 km away
  3. Mount Soldab13 km away
  4. Mount Sinalagas13 km away
  5. Mount Gitangilang11 km away
  6. Mount Ananaso11 km away
  7. Mount Amaloi12 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Mindanao River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Mindanao River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth19 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

Mindanao River in pictures

Rio Grande de Mindanao (Cotabato City)
Shubert Ciencia · CC BY 2.0
Rio Grande De Mindanao, Cotabato Poblacion skyline (Cotabato City; 08-16-2023)
Patrickroque01 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rio Grande De Mindanao
pdsarmiento · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (4)

Also: Pulangi River, Allah River, M'lang River, Libungan River

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Agusan RiverPhilippinesPhilippines349 km570 m³/s243 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q2095415) · 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