River · Argentina
Río Negro (Argentina)
The Río Negro is the main river of Patagonia in Argentina. It is born where the Limay and Neuquén rivers meet, and its water turns dry valleys into one of the country's largest irrigated oases, full of apple and pear orchards.
Picture credit: Claudio Elias (Public domain) · Arcibel (CC BY-SA 3.0) · EL GUILLE! (CC BY 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Río Negro (Argentina)?
The river starts here: Confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers, Argentina.
It ends in the Atlantic Ocean near El Cóndor, below Viedma.
Countries on the river: Argentina.
The story behind it
The Río Negro begins near the city of Neuquén, where the Limay and the Neuquén rivers join. From there it flows about 635 kilometres across Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. Its name comes from the Mapuche words Curú Leufú, which mean 'black river', although the water looks more dark green than black. Long ago it was also called the river of willows. In the Alto Valle, around towns such as General Roca, Cipolletti and Villa Regina, the river water irrigates huge orchards: this region grows about 70 percent of Argentina's pears and 72 percent of its apples, as well as peaches and tomatoes. Further downstream lies Choele Choel, the largest island in the river. Every year, kayak paddlers race down the river over several days to Viedma, in a regatta that is called the longest in the world.
Questions children ask
How long is the Río Negro?
The Río Negro itself is about 635 km long. Together with its largest source river, the Limay, the whole river system is about 1 252 km long.
Why is it called 'black river' when its water is green?
The name is a translation of the Mapuche name Curú Leufú, which means 'black river'. In fact the water looks more dark green than black.
What grows along the Río Negro?
In the irrigated valleys farmers grow mainly apples and pears, as well as peaches and tomatoes. About 70 percent of Argentina's pears and 72 percent of its apples come from this region.
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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