River · Mexico
Rio Grande
Rio Grande is the longest river of Mexico and also marks a long border. It comes from mountains in Colorado and crosses wide deserts. At last it empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
Picture credit: Andreas F. Borchert (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Daniel Schwen (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Daniel Schwen (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Rio Grande?
The river starts here: San Juan Mountains in Colorado, USA.
It ends in the Gulf of Mexico.
Countries on the river: Mexico.
The story behind it
The Rio Grande starts as a clear mountain stream in Colorado and soon enters a land of cactus, sand and heat. For most of its way it forms the border between Mexico and the United States, and because the two countries measure it differently, books give different lengths for the same river. In the deep canyons of Big Bend the water has cut walls hundreds of metres high, where falcons nest and black bears wander. Cities such as Ciudad Juárez stand on its banks, and farmers take water for cotton, chillies and pecan trees. So much is taken that in dry summers the last stretch before the sea can almost disappear, leaving a sandy channel. When storms hit the mountains, though, the river swells fast and floods the fields again.
Questions children ask
How long is the Rio Grande?
The river is given as about 3 108 kilometres long. Different books name other figures, because the winding channel is hard to measure and it keeps changing. Either way it is one of the longest rivers in North America.
Which countries does the Rio Grande flow through?
In Mexico it is the longest river of the country. Before that it flows through the United States, and for a very long stretch it forms the border between the two neighbours. Bridges link the cities on either bank.
Where does the Rio Grande end?
The river reaches the Gulf of Mexico near Matamoros and Brownsville. There it spreads into sandbanks and lagoons full of birds. In very dry years so little water arrives that the mouth almost closes up.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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