Longest rivers in South America

Home > South America > Longest rivers

   In South America there is the second longest river on the planet, the Amazon River, which is by far the largest in terms of drainage and flow.

   It should also be noted that as many as 14 of the first 16 longest rivers flow partly or totally in Brazil, this is because it is the largest country in South America and because of the arrangement of the major mountains, given that the Andes affect the entire western part of this continent and indeed none of the main watercourses flow into the Pacific Ocean, but they are mostly oriented from west to east and the Atlantic Ocean.

   Seven of these rivers are tributaries of the Amazon; the only ones that do not touch Brazil are the Orinoco in the northern part of South America and the Pilcomayo, one of the tributaries of Paraguay, which in turn feeds the Paraná.

River	Length (km)	Length (mi)	Mouth	Countries
Amazon (1)	6,437 km	4,000 mi	Atlantic Ocean	Perù, Colombia, Brazil
Paraná (2)	4,880 km	3,032 mi	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina
Madeira (3)	3,250 km	2,019 mi	Amazon	Bolivia, Brazil
Purus	3,210 km	1,979 mi	Amazon	Perù, Brazil
São Francisco	2,915 km	1,811 mi	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
Tocantins (4)	2,640 km	1,640 mi	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
Araguaia (5)	2,625 km	1,631 mi	Tocantins	Brazil
Paraguay	2,620 km	1,628 mi	Paraná	Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina
Japurá (6)	2,415 km	1,501 mi	Amazon	Colombia, Brazil
Juruá	2,400 km	1,491 mi	Amazon	Perù, Brazil
Rio Negro	2,250 km	1,398 mi	Amazon	Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil
Orinoco (7)	2,140 km	1,330 mi	Atlantic Ocean	Venezuela, Colombia
Xingu	2,100 km	1,305 mi	Amazon	Brazil
Tapajos	1,992 km	1,238 mi	Amazon	Brazil
Uruguay (8)	1,840 km	1,143 mi	Río de la Plata	Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina
Pilcomayo	1,800 km	1,118 mi	Paraguay	Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay

* in some cases the course of the main tributary is included either because the length is greater or because the river does not always have the same name or it arises from the confluence of other rivers, which are in effect the initial part of the same river

(1) Second longest river on the planet and the one with the largest catchment area and flow.
(2) The last stretch, from the confluence with Uruguay, is called Río de la Plata.
(3) Including Rio Grande and Mamoré, which takes the name of Madeira from the confluence with the Beni.
(4) In the last stretch it joins one of the final branches of the Amazon River.
(5) If we consider the shorter Tocantins as its tributary, the length would be 3,650 km (2,268 mi).
(6) In Colombia the river is called Caquetá, in Brazil Japurá.
(7) It is connected to the Amazon River through the Casiquiare, a bifurcation of this river that flows into the Rio Negro.
(8) It forms, from the confluence with the Paraná, the Río de la Plata.

SOUTH AMERICA LONGEST RIVERS

Related contents