River · Paraguay
Paraguay River
The Paraguay River is the longest river of Paraguay. It comes from the Brazilian highlands, cuts the country into two very different halves and joins the Paraná north of Corrientes.
Picture credit: Diego Fernando Quint… (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Alceu Mauro Denes (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Paraguay River?
The river starts here: highlands of Mato Grosso in Brazil.
It ends in the Paraná, north of Corrientes.
Countries on the river: Paraguay.
The story behind it
The Paraguay is a river of several countries: it rises in Brazil, forms a border with Brazil and later with Argentina, and only part of its course belongs to Paraguay alone, which is why length figures differ from book to book. In the north it flows through the Pantanal, one of the largest wetlands on Earth, where jaguars, caimans and giant otters live and thousands of birds gather in the shallow water. Every year the river rises slowly and floods the plain for months, then pulls back and leaves rich grass behind. West of the river lies the dry Chaco with thorn bushes; east of it live most of the people. Barges push soy and grain downstream, and Asunción, the capital, looks out over the water from its harbour.
Questions children ask
How long is the Paraguay River?
Which countries does the Paraguay River flow through?
The data used here names Paraguay. The river also touches Brazil, where it begins, and Argentina, where it ends, and along long stretches it serves as a border.
Where does the Paraguay River flow into?
Into the Paraná, north of the Argentine city of Corrientes. From there the water travels on through the Río de la Plata to the Atlantic.
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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