- Spanish:
- “River of Silver”
- English:
- River Plate
Río de la Plata
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What is the Río de la Plata?
The Río de la Plata is a tapering estuary on the east coast of South America, located between Uruguay and Argentina. Some consider it a gulf, marginal sea, or river, but it is generally known as the estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The Río de la Plata is approximately 180 miles long. It widens from 31 miles at its head to 136 miles at its Atlantic extremity.
The Río de la Plata was first explored by Europeans in 1516 by an expedition led by Juan Díaz de Solís. The estuary got its permanent name, Río de la Plata, when Sebastian Cabot obtained silver trinkets from the Guaraní Indians around 1526 to 1529. Río de la Plata means "River of Silver".
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Where is the Río de la Plata located in South America?
The Río de la Plata is on the east coast of South America, between Uruguay to the north and Argentina to the south. Some consider it a gulf or marginal sea, while others view it as a river. It is generally accepted to be the estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, as well as the Paraguay River, which drains into the Paraná. Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, lies on the southwestern shore, and Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, is on the estuary's northern shore. The estuary broadens from its head seaward across approximately 180 miles (290 kilometers). It stretches 31 miles from Punta Lara, Argentina, to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, and 136 miles from shore to shore at its Atlantic edge.
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Which rivers flow into the Río de la Plata?
The Río de la Plata is an estuary on the east coast of South America, located between Uruguay and Argentina. It is primarily the estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, as well as the Paraguay River, which is a tributary of the Paraná. The Paraná River, 3,032 miles in length, has its source in southern Brazil at the confluence of the Grande and Paranaíba rivers. The Uruguay River, which is 990 miles long, also has its source in southern Brazil.
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Why is the Río de la Plata considered an estuary?
The Río de la Plata is considered an estuary because it is a partly enclosed coastal body of water where river water mixes with seawater. It is formed by the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, draining a large basin in south-central South America. As the fresh river water meets the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean, it creates a unique environment characterized by brackish water and high biological productivity.
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What countries share the Río de la Plata and use it for transportation or trade?
The Río de la Plata estuary, located on the east coast of South America, is shared by Uruguay and Argentina. Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is on its northern shore, while Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, lies on the southwestern shore.
As a major waterway, the Río de la Plata is crucial for trade and transportation in both countries. Large oceangoing vessels can navigate the lower Paraná River up to Santa Fe or Paraná, and ocean trade can directly reach Concepción del Uruguay via the Uruguay River. Buenos Aires is a principal seaport for Argentina, facilitating the export of meat and grain. High-speed ferry services connect Buenos Aires with Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo in Uruguay.
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How does the Río de la Plata affect the environment and people who live nearby?
The Río de la Plata is a South American estuary between Uruguay and Argentina that is the drainage point for a large part of the continent.
The Río de la Plata's waters receive immense quantities of silt every year. Tides and winds prevent silt deposition, and when sediments settle, shoals, banks, and bars form. The estuary's Argentine coast is low-lying and prone to flooding, requiring constant dredging for port access. The Uruguayan coast is higher, with rocks and dunes.
The Río de la Plata also suffers from pollution. Waste disposal includes garbage-burning centers, but most wastes fill lowlands along the Río de la Plata. Reclaimed areas have been converted into parks, sports areas, and construction sites.
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Río de la Plata, a tapering intrusion of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of South America between Uruguay to the north and Argentina to the south. While some geographers regard it as a gulf or as a marginal sea of the Atlantic, and others consider it to be a river, it is usually held to be the estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers (as well as of the Paraguay River, which drains into the Paraná).
The Río de la Plata receives waters draining from the basin of these rivers, which covers much of south-central South America; the total area drained is about 1.2 million square miles (3.2 million square kilometres), or about one-fifth of the surface of the continent. Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is located on the northern shore of the estuary, and Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is on the southwestern shore.
The delta of the Paraná and the mouth of the Uruguay meet at the head of the Río de la Plata. The breadth of the estuary increases from the head seaward, a distance of about 180 miles (290 kilometres): it is 31 miles from the city of Punta Lara on the southern (Argentine) shore to the port of Colonia del Sacramento on the northern (Uruguayan) shore, and 136 miles from shore to shore at the Atlantic extremity of the estuary. To those who regard the Río de la Plata as a river, it is the widest in the world, with a total area of about 13,500 square miles.
Physical features
The Paraná River (Spanish: Río Paraná; Portuguese: Rio Paraná), together with its tributaries, forms the larger of the two river systems that drain into the Río de la Plata. The Paraná—meaning “Father of the Waters” in the Guaraní language—is 3,032 miles (4,880 kilometres) long and extends from the confluence of the Grande and Paranaíba rivers in southern Brazil, running generally southwestward for most of its course, before turning southeastward to drain into the Río de la Plata. The Paraná customarily is divided into two segments: the Alto (Upper) Paraná above the confluence with the Paraguay River and the Paraná proper (or lower Paraná) below the confluence.
Physiography of the Alto Paraná basin
The Grande River rises in the Serra da Mantiqueira, part of the mountainous hinterland of Rio de Janeiro, and flows westward for approximately 680 miles; but its numerous waterfalls—such as the Marimbondo Falls, with a height of 72 feet (22 metres)—makes it of little use for navigation. The Paranaíba, which also has numerous waterfalls, is formed by many affluents, the northernmost headstream being the São Bartolomeu River, which rises just to the east of Brasília.
From its origin in the Grande-Paranaíba confluence to its junction, some 750 miles downstream, with the Paraguay, the Alto Paraná receives many tributaries from both the right and the left. The three most important tributaries—the Tietê, Paranapanema, and Iguaçu rivers—all join the Alto Paraná on its left bank and have their sources within a few miles of the Atlantic coast of Brazil.
The Alto Paraná first flows in a southwesterly direction down a deep cleavage in the southern slope of the ancient Brazilian Highlands, the configuration of which determines its course. Just before it begins to run along the frontier between Brazil to the east and Paraguay to the west, the river has to cut through the Serra de Maracaju (Mbaracuyú), which in the past had the effect of a dam, until the Itaipu hydroelectric dam project was completed there in 1982; the river once expanded its bed into a lake 2.5 miles wide and 4.5 miles long, with Guaíra, Brazil, standing on the southern shore. The river’s passage through the mountains was, until 1982, marked by the Guairá Falls (Salto das Sete Quedas), which had eight times the water volume of the Niagara River of North America. Since the completion of the Itaipu project’s first stage, the falls and lake have been submerged, and a reservoir now extends upstream for some 120 miles and covers more than 700 square miles.
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The Iguaçu River (Iguaçu meaning “Great Water” in the Guaraní language) joins the Alto Paraná at the point where Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina converge. Rising in the Serra do Mar near the Brazilian city of Curitiba (for which reason it is sometimes called the Rio Grande de Curitiba), the Iguaçu flows about 380 miles from east to west, during which some 70 waterfalls reduce the river’s elevation by a total of about 2,650 feet. While the Ñacunday Falls are 131 feet high, the spectacular Iguaçu Falls, on the frontier between Brazil and Argentina, 14 miles upstream from the Iguaçu–Alto Paraná confluence, have a height of about 270 feet—almost 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls. As the river approaches the falls, it widens before plunging over the crescent-shaped edge, producing horseshoe-shaped cataracts more than two miles wide. Below the falls, the river passes for several miles through a gorge (Garganta del Diablo; literally, “Devil’s Throat”) that is only 164 feet wide between heights varying from 65 to 328 feet.
From the Iguaçu confluence to its junction with the Paraguay River, the Alto Paraná continues as the frontier between Paraguay and Argentina. So long as it is flanked on the left (Argentine) bank by the steep edge of the Sierra de Misiones, the river proceeds in a generally southwesterly direction, but it twists repeatedly to and fro over a rocky bed studded with outcrops of porphyritic basalt. At Posadas, Argentina, however, where it is about 1.5 miles wide, the river turns abruptly westward and begins a more meandering course, embracing islands of considerable size and punctuated so frequently by rapids and by outcrops of basalt that navigation is difficult. At the Apipé Rapids the river is only about 4 to 6 feet deep.