River
Papaloapan River
122 km from source to mouth · Mexico.
MexicoFlows into Gulf of Mexico10th longest in Mexico
In numbers
Length
122km
Average flow
1,500m³/s
Basin
46,560km²
Drop
26m
from 26 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
122 km of river and 14 stops on the way: 11 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 26 m
- 3 kmSanto Domingo Rivertributary
- 8 kmSan Juan Bautista Tuxtepec103,609 people
- 8 kmTuxtepec159,452 people
- 10 kmSan Bartolo3,372 people
- 20 kmGabino Barreda4,726 people
- 26 kmOtatitlán4,659 people
- 41 kmTlacojalpan4,006 people
- 56 kmChacaltianguis4,133 people
- 62 kmPapaloapan Bridge
- 64 kmCosamaloapan30,577 people
- 68 kmCarlos A. Carrillo17,989 people
- 101 kmTlacotalpan7,600 people
- 122 kmAlvarado Bridge
- 122 kmAlvarado23,128 people
- 122 kmGulf of Mexicoat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Mexico
At the mouth it carries 1,452 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.7 seconds. It drops from 26 m to 0 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 46,560 km², about the size of BT. 2.5 million people live in it. Highest water: September; lowest: from February to May. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (24% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- TuxtepecLargest city on its banks · 159,452 people
- General Heriberto Jara International Airport (VER)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 117 km from the cityCar hire at VER airport (Veracruz)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water11 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From December to MarchThe best months to visit
Papaloapan River, month by month
Highest water: September
Lowest water: from February to May. Best months to visit: from December to March.
From about 200 m³/s in the lowest month to 3,400 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
Papaloapan River: the basin in numbers
39,661 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.5millionpeople live in the basin
- 65/km²people per km²
- 940maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,805mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 21.3°Caverage air temperature
- 13%protected areas
- 1.7%covered by lakes
- 11km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 53% Forest
- 32% Cropland
- 20% 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
Papaloapan River: what you find on the way
- 1Weirs
- 10Ferry piers
- 1MarinasMuelle y Malecón Turístico
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Papaloapan 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.
5beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
5mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Beaches (5)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa las Trochas4.8 km away29.4°C
- Playa Esscolleras3.7 km away29.4°C
- Playa Fuente de los Fierros18 km away29.4°C
- Playa Lanea23 km away29.4°C
- Ensenada el Loro14 km away · cove29.4°C
Mountains at the source (5)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Pinacho4.2 km away
- Pluma9.7 km away
- Cerro Sumatra1.0 km away
- Cerro Mazin7.1 km away
- Cerro De Oro13 km away
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
Papaloapan River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (3)
Also: Tonto River, Santo Domingo River, Tesechoacan River
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q583044) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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 | Coastya, 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.
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lakes
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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 
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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