River
Maroni
612 km from source to mouth · French Guiana, France and Suriname.
French Guiana, France and SurinameFlows into Atlantic Ocean
In numbers
Length
612km
Average flow
1,700m³/s
Basin
65,830km²
Drop
185m
from 185 m to 0 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
612 km of river and 15 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 185 m
- 196 kmLitanitributary
- 211 kmMalani (river)tributary
- 263 kmIninitributary
- 267 kmMaripasoula8,423 people
- 267 kmMaripa Soula
- 343 kmPenabisoengoe Vallen
- 371 kmGonini Rivertributary
- 385 kmGrand-Santi9,668 people
- 406 kmLawa Rivertributary
- 406 kmAbounamytributary
- 410 kmManbari rapids
- 410 kmTapanahony Rivertributary
- 523 kmApatou10,059 people
- 583 kmAlbina5,247 people
- 586 kmSaint-Laurent-du-Maroni24,287 people
- 612 kmAtlantic Oceanat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in South America, forming the border between Suriname and French Guiana
At the mouth it carries 1,700 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.5 seconds. It drops from 185 m to 0 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 65,830 km², about the size of LK. 56,000 people live in it. Highest water: from May to July; lowest: from October to November. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- Saint-Laurent-du-MaroniLargest city on its banks · 24,287 people
- Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Airport (LDX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 2 km from the cityCar hire at PBM airport (Paramaribo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water32 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From September to NovemberThe best months to visit
Maroni, month by month
Highest water: from May to July
Lowest water: from October to November. Best months to visit: from September to November.
From about 520 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,000 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Maroni: the basin in numbers
66,408 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 56,000people live in the basin
- 1/km²people per km²
- 201maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,355mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 25.5°Caverage air temperature
- 31%protected areas
What covers the basin
- 99% Forest
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Maroni: what you find on the way
- 1Weirs
- 6WaterfallsKiboï Soula, Petit Saut, Saut Lavaud and 3 more
- 24Boat rampsDégrad, Dégrad amérindien and 22 more
- 7Ferry piersAlbina, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Taxi fluvial SLM - Albina and 4 more
- 1MarinasPort de l'ouest
- 1River beachesDébarcadère de la Glacière
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Maroni in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
Waterfalls (3)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Maripa Soulakm 232
- Penabisoengoe Vallenkm 298
- Manbari rapidskm 356
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Plage des Hattes20 km away28.1°C
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Maroni in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (10)
Also: Tapanahony River, Litani, Inini, Gonini River, Malani (river), Abounamy, Crique Sparouine, Crique Beïman, Grankreek
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Suriname480 km440 m³/s124 km awayLawa RiverFrench Guiana362 km970 m³/s139 km awayCoppename RiverSuriname400 km550 m³/s213 km awaySaramacca RiverSuriname255 km280 m³/s212 km awayOyapockFrance403 km840 m³/s308 km awayCourantyne River
Guyana724 km580 m³/s346 km awayBerbice RiverGuyana595 km370 m³/s396 km awayDemerara RiverGuyana350 km290 m³/s480 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1369002) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Coastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
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lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit