River · Brazil
Tocantins
The Tocantins is a big river in Brazil that flows from south to north. It starts on the high plains of Goiás and ends in Marajó Bay, next to the huge delta of the Amazon.
Picture credit: Camsidou (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Anderson S. de Souza (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Tocantins?
The river starts here: Headstreams on the central plateau of Goiás, Brazil.
It ends in the Marajó Bay (Pará River), Atlantic Ocean.
Countries on the river: Brazil.
The story behind it
Its name comes from the Tupi language and means «toucan's beak». The Tocantins is one of the largest clearwater rivers in South America, so its water is clear instead of muddy brown. Many people think it is a branch of the Amazon, but experts count it as a river system of its own. More than 350 kinds of fish live in it, and over 175 of them are found nowhere else. Manatees, caimans and turtles live here too, and so does the rare Araguaian river dolphin, which scientists only described in 2014. On its long way north, rapids and waterfalls often block the path for boats. Near the town of Tucuruí stands one of the largest dams in the world. It is 12.5 kilometres long, its lake covers about 2 850 km², and two giant locks, each 210 metres long, lift ships past the wall.
Questions children ask
How long is the Tocantins?
The Tocantins is about 2 640 km long. Depending on how it is measured, sources give lengths between about 2 450 and 2 700 km.
Is the Tocantins part of the Amazon?
What does the name Tocantins mean?
The name comes from Tupi, a language of Indigenous peoples in Brazil. It means «toucan's beak», after the colourful birds with huge beaks.
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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