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River

Xingu River

1,640 km from source to mouth · Brazil.

BrazilBrazilFlows into Amazon River10th longest in Brazil

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthSão Félix do XinguAltamira
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

1,640km

Average flow

9,700m³/s

Basin

513,000km²

Drop

279m

from 277 m to -2 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

1,640 km of river and 26 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

277 m-2 m
Sourceat 277 m0 km
Cachoeira Von Martius238 km
Cachoeira da Carreira Comprida651 km
São Félix do Xingu132,138 people747 km
Cachoeira Paiçandu1,023 km
Altamira126,279 people1,183 km
Bacajá Rivertributary1,261 km
Acarai Rivertributary1,467 km
Amazon Riverat -2 m1,640 km
05001,0001,640 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 277 m
  2. 4 kmCuluene Rivertributary
  3. 238 kmCachoeira Von Martius
  4. 261 kmCachoeira Pedras
  5. 651 kmCachoeira da Carreira Comprida
  6. 670 kmCachoeira do Coatá
  7. 729 kmCachoeira do Tamanduá
  8. 739 kmCachoeira Curumati
  9. 747 kmSão Félix do Xingu132,138 people
  10. 750 kmFresco Rivertributary
  11. 754 kmLago de Santa Rosa0.5 km²
  12. 1,023 kmCachoeira Paiçandu
  13. 1,027 kmCachoeiras Paiçandu
  14. 1,039 kmCachoeira do Padre
  15. 1,068 kmCachoeira da Cajazeira
  16. 1,076 kmCachoeira Piraquara
  17. 1,083 kmCachoeira Itapaiúna
  18. 1,084 kmCachoeira Saranzal
  19. 1,088 kmCachoeira do Camaleão
  20. 1,109 kmIriri Rivertributary
  21. 1,183 kmAltamira126,279 people
  22. 1,218 kmPimental Dam
  23. 1,261 kmBacajá Rivertributary
  24. 1,333 kmBelo Monte Dam
  25. 1,369 kmVitória do Xingu15,607 people
  26. 1,467 kmAcarai Rivertributary
  27. 1,497 kmPorto de Moz41,801 people
  28. 1,640 kmAmazon Riverat -2 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

Tributary river of the Amazon River in South America

At the mouth it carries 9,680 m³/s on average: 3.9 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 277 m to -2 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 513,000 km², about the size of TH. 528,000 people live in it. Highest water: from March to April; lowest: from August to November. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • São Félix do XinguLargest city on its banks · 132,138 people
  • Carajás Airport (CKS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 228 km from the cityCar hire at CKS airport (Parauapebas)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water17 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

Xingu River, month by month

Highest water: from March to April

Lowest water: from August to November. Best months to visit: from June to August.

14,600
25°302 mmJan
18,200
25°306 mmFeb
21,100
26°314 mmMar
20,700
26°244 mmApr
16,800
25°136 mmMay
11,700
25°60 mmJun
6,700
25°40 mmJul
3,500
26°36 mmAug
2,800
26°77 mmSep
4,200
26°139 mmOct
6,400
26°164 mmNov
10,100
26°246 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 2,800 m³/s in the lowest month to 21,100 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

Car hire at CKS airport (Parauapebas)Discover CarsSee 

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

Xingu River: the basin in numbers

513,138 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 528,000people live in the basin
  • 1/km²people per km²
  • 294maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,996mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 25.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 57%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 82% Forest
  • 1% Cropland
  • 7% Pasture

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

Xingu River: what you find on the way

  • 2DamsBarragem Belo Monte
  • 16Ferry piersBalsa do Rio Xingu, Balsa do Rio Xingu., Balsa Assuruni and 13 more
  • 1MarinasMarina
  • 3River beachesPraia do pedral, Praia do Assurini, Praia do Massanori

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Xingu River 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.

  • 14waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas

Waterfalls (14)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Cachoeira Von Martiuskm 261
  2. Cachoeira Pedraskm 286
  3. Cachoeira da Carreira Compridakm 713
  4. Cachoeira do Coatákm 734
  5. Cachoeira do Tamanduákm 799
  6. Cachoeira Curumatikm 810
  7. Cachoeira Piraquarakm 1,179
  8. Cachoeira Saranzalkm 1,187

6 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lago de Santa Rosakm 8260.5km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Xingu River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Xingu River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth98 km across

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

Xingu River in pictures

AMAZONIA REAL ALDEIA SAO FRANCISCO SOUZEL PEDROSA NETO-437 (49594456486)
Amazônia Real from Manaus AM, Brasil · CC BY 2.0
Barcos no rio Xingu
Fernanda.nunes · CC BY-SA 3.0
Canoas no Rio Xingu
Cleiton Rone · CC BY-SA 3.0
Fires along the Rio Xingu, Brazil
ISS Expedition 29 crew · Public domain

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Amazon RiverBrazilBrazil6,400 km209,000 m³/s

Tributaries (18)

Iriri RiverBrazilBrazil1,100 km2,800 m³/sjoins at km 1,215

Also: Culuene River, Acarai River, Bacajá River, Fresco River, Atelchu River, Auaiá-Miçu River, Suia-Miçu River, Arraias River, Bacajaí River, Curisevo River, Huaiá-Miçu River, Jaraucu River, Sete de Setembro River, Tucurui River, Itata River, Liberdade River, Pardo River

In the same basin

Rio NegroBrazilBrazil2,250 km30,000 m³/sMadeira RiverBrazilBrazil1,450 km31,200 m³/sMarañón RiverPeruPeru1,737 km16,700 m³/sUcayali RiverPeruPeru1,460 km12,600 m³/sJapurá RiverBrazilBrazil2,820 km13,900 m³/sMamoré RiverBrazilBrazil1,930 km11,600 m³/sJuruá RiverBrazilBrazil3,100 km4,800 m³/sTapajós RiverBrazilBrazil1,930 km13,000 m³/sPutumayo RiverBrazilBrazil1,610 km7,000 m³/sPurus RiverBrazilBrazil2,960 km8.4 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Jari RiverBrazilBrazil1,000 km1,200 m³/s42 km awayIriri RiverBrazilBrazil1,100 km2,800 m³/s263 km awayTapajós RiverBrazilBrazil1,930 km13,000 m³/s343 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q49544) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit