River
Río de la Plata
290 km from source to mouth · Uruguay and Argentina.
Uruguay and ArgentinaFlows into Atlantic Ocean5th longest in Uruguay
In numbers
Length
290km
Average flow
22,000m³/s
Basin
4,144,000km²
Drop
151m
from 149 m to -2 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
290 km of river and 5 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 149 m
- 135 kmSan Ramón7,133 people
- 223 kmSanta Lucía16,438 people
- 281 kmCiudad del Plata38,249 people
- 283 kmDelta del Tigre17,973 people
- 289 kmSanta Lucía Rivertributary
- 290 kmAtlantic Oceanat -2 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and Uruguay
At the mouth it carries 22,000 m³/s on average: 8.8 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 149 m to -2 m, 0.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 4,144,000 km². 395,000 people live in it. Highest water: from May to August. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- Ciudad del PlataLargest city on its banks · 38,249 people
- Carrasco General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (MVD)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 33 km from the cityCar hire at MVD airport (Ciudad de la Costa)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water1 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From November to February and MayThe best months to visit
Río de la Plata, month by month
Highest water: from May to August
Best months to visit: from November to February and May.
From about 120 m³/s in the lowest month to 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
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
Río de la Plata: the basin in numbers
13,440 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 395,000people live in the basin
- 29/km²people per km²
- 97maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,221mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 16.9°Caverage air temperature
- 0.1%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 15% Forest
- 12% Cropland
- 72% Pasture
- 1% 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
Río de la Plata: what you find on the way
- 1MarinasClub Nautico Santa Lucía
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Río de la Plata 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.
4beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
18mountains at the sourcePeakyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Beaches (4)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa Pascual8.3 km away23.8°C
- Playa Capurro18 km away23.6°C
- Playa del Cerro18 km away23.8°C
- Playa Ramírez25 km away23.6°C
Mountains at the source (18)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Cerro del Penitente8.1 km away357m
- Cerro Artigas9.6 km away215m
- Cerro Campanero Grande3.3 km away365m
- Cerro La Leona15 km away358m
- Cerro de los Chivitos2.5 km away321m
- Cerro Pelado14 km away319m
- Cerro Campanero Chico3.4 km away310m
- Cerro Otegui4.7 km away280m
10 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Isla de Ratas18 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
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
Río de la Plata in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (26)
Uruguay4,880 km16,000 m³/sUruguay RiverUruguay1,790 km4.6 m³/sSalado RiverArgentina640 km80 m³/sAlso: Santa Lucía River, Luján River, Arroyo Pando, Solís Grande Creek, Rosario River, San Juan River, Samborombón, Miguelete Creek, Arroyo Solís Chico, Arroyo de las Vacas, Carrasco Creek, Pantanoso Creek, Arroyo de las Víboras, Arroyo Cufre, Arroyo Riachuelo, Maldonado Stream, Arroyo Sarandí, Arroyo de la Caballada, Arroyo El Bagre, Arroyo Medrano, Arroyo Raggio, Delta del río Santiago, Arroyo Malvín
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q35827) · 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 | Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — 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