Marañón River
| Marañón River Spanish: Río Marañón | |
|---|---|
Marañón River watershed (Interactive map) | |
| Native name | Awriq mayu (Quechua) |
| Location | |
| Country | Peru |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Andes |
| • location | Confluence of Lauricocha and Nupe |
| • coordinates | 9°59′16.674″S 76°40′58.854″W / 9.98796500°S 76.68301500°W |
| • elevation | 3,304 m (10,840 ft) |
| 2nd source | Nupe |
| • location | Huayhuash |
| • coordinates | 10°16′44.598″S 76°52′3.2268″W / 10.27905500°S 76.867563000°W |
| • elevation | 4,351 m (14,275 ft) |
| 3rd source | Lauricocha |
| • location | Raura |
| • coordinates | 10°25′23.88″S 76°44′7.4544″W / 10.4233000°S 76.735404000°W |
| • elevation | 4,964 m (16,286 ft) |
| Mouth | Amazon River |
• coordinates | 4°26′43.4076″S 73°27′11.5812″W / 4.445391000°S 73.453217000°W |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 1,737 km (1,079 mi) |
| Basin size | 358,000 km2 (138,000 sq mi) to 364,873.4 km2 (140,878.4 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Confluence of Ucayali |
| • average | (Period: 1965–2013)16,675.89 m3/s (588,903 cu ft/s)
16,708 m3/s (590,000 cu ft/s) (Period: 1971–2000)17,957.6 m3/s (634,170 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Amazon → Atlantic Ocean |
| River system | Amazon |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Tigre, Cunincu, Urituyacu, Nucuray, Ungumayo, Pastaza, Sasipahua, Morona, Cangaza, Santiago, Cenepa, Chinchipe, Choros, Linlín, Artesamayo, Choropampa, Magdalena, Cortegana, Chipche, Mireles, Chusgón, San Sebastián, Casga, Mamara, Mayas, Actuy, Rupac, Yanamayo, Puchca, Contan, Vizcarra, Nupe |
| • right | Yanayacu, Huallaga, Cahuapanas, Potro, Apaga, Samiria, Nieva, Cananya, Chiriaco, Congón, Rumirumi, Shuve, Chumuch, Pusac, Lavasen, Gansul, San Miguel, Challas, Tantamayo, San Juan, Lauricocha |
The Marañón River (Spanish: Río Marañón, IPA: [ˈri.o maɾaˈɲon], Quechua: Awriq mayu) is the principal or mainstem source of the Amazon River, arising about 160 km (100 miles) to the northeast of Lima, Peru, and flowing northwest across plateaus 3,650 m (12,000 feet) high, it runs through a deeply eroded Andean valley, along the eastern base of the Cordillera of the Andes, as far as 5° 36′ southern latitude; from where it makes a great bend to the northeast, and cuts through the jungle Ande in its midcourse, until at the Pongo de Manseriche it flows into the flat Amazon basin. Although historically, the term "Marañón River" often was applied to the river all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, nowadays the Marañón River is generally thought to end at the confluence with the Ucayali River, after which most cartographers label the ensuing waterway the Amazon River.
As the Marañón passes through high jungle in its midcourse, it is marked by a series of unnavigable rapids and falls.
The Marañón was the subject of a landmark legal ruling related to the rights of nature. In March 2024, a Peruvian court ruled that the river itself has fundamental rights, including the right to ecological flows and to be free from pollution.