Pilcomayo River

---

title: "Pilcomayo River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-paraguay", "rivers-of-argentina", "rivers-of-formosa-province", "argentina–paraguay-border", "argentina–bolivia-border", "international-rivers-of-south-america", "rivers-of-chuquisaca-department", "rivers-of-oruro-department", "rivers-of-potosí-department", "rivers-of-tarija-department", "rivers-of-salta-province", "tributaries-of-the-paraguay-river", "border-rivers", "ramsar-sites-in-argentina"] description: "River of Argentina" topic_path: "geography/argentina" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcomayo_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River of Argentina ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Pilcomayo
native_name	qu
name_other	Ysyry Araguay
name_etymology	Quechua
image	File:Pilco.234599900013.jpg
image_size	290px
image_caption	Pilcomayo River, in the Dry Chaco
map	Pilcomayorivermap.png
map_caption	Map of the Rio de la Plata Basin, highlighting the Pilcomayo river
subdivision_type1	Countries
subdivision_name1
source1	Most distant source of Pilcomayo-Pilaya-Camblaya-San Juan-Orosmayo-Ajedrez-Porvenir System
source1_location	East slopes of Cerro Sipisami, Jujui Province, Argentina
source1_coordinates	approximately
source1_elevation	approximately 4800 m
source2	Most distant source of main stem Pilcomayo
source2_location	Municipio Santiago de Huari, Oruro, Bolivia
source2_coordinates
source2_elevation	4820 metres
mouth	Confluence with Paraguay River
mouth_location	Near Asunción, Paraguay
mouth_coordinates
extra	{{Designation list
embed	yes
designation1	Ramsar
designation1_offname	Rio Pilcomayo
designation1_date	4 May 1992
designation1_number	557}}
::

| name = Pilcomayo | native_name = qu | name_other = Ysyry Araguay | name_etymology = Quechua | image = File:Pilco.234599900013.jpg | image_size = 290px | image_caption = Pilcomayo River, in the Dry Chaco | map = Pilcomayorivermap.png | map_size = | map_caption = Map of the Rio de la Plata Basin, highlighting the Pilcomayo river | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length = | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Most distant source of Pilcomayo-Pilaya-Camblaya-San Juan-Orosmayo-Ajedrez-Porvenir System | source1_location = East slopes of Cerro Sipisami, Jujui Province, Argentina | source1_coordinates= approximately | source1_elevation = approximately 4800 m | source2 = Most distant source of main stem Pilcomayo | source2_location = Municipio Santiago de Huari, Oruro, Bolivia | source2_coordinates= | source2_elevation = 4820 metres | mouth = Confluence with Paraguay River | mouth_location = Near Asunción, Paraguay | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_offname = Rio Pilcomayo | designation1_date = 4 May 1992 | designation1_number = 557}} Pilcomayo (in Hispanicized spelling) (Quechua: Pillkumayu or Pillku Mayu, pillku red, mayu river, "red river"; Guarani: Ysyry Araguay ) is a river in central South America. At 1100 km long, it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay River. Its drainage basin is 270000 km2 in area, and its mean discharge is 200 m3/s.

Along its course, the Pilcomayo silts up and splits into two main branches, North and South. After some distance, these branches rejoin to form the Lower Pilcomayo.

The Pilcomayo rises in the foothills of the Andes mountain range in the Oruro Department in Bolivia, east of Lake Poopó. The Jach'a Juqhu River is considered the origin of the Pilcomayo. Upstream the Jach'a Juqhu River successively receives the names Aguas Calientes and Kachi Mayu. From the confluence with the Chillawa (Chillahua), the river is called Pilcomayo. From there, it flows in a southeasterly direction through Chuquisaca and Tarija departments, passes through the Argentine province of Formosa and the Gran Chaco plains of Paraguay, forming most of the border between these two countries before it joins the Paraguay River near Asunción. The Río Pilcomayo National Park is located on the Argentine side of the border. It also forms a short part of the boundary between Argentina and Bolivia, just prior to the Argentina–Bolivia–Paraguay tripoint.

Human settlement

The river basin is home to approximately 1.5 million people: one million in Bolivia, 300,000 in Argentina, and 200,000 in Paraguay.

The Nakotoi Indian Tribe resides in the southern region of the Pilcomayo, a region located along the river in central Paraguay. The aborigines of this tribe are descendants of the highly renowned Redskin Tribe. The Natokoi dress in a rug, fastened around the waist-line.

Gallery

File:A._Fiskare_gå_över_Pilcomayo._Rio_Pilcomayo,_Bolivianska_Chaco._Rio_Pilcomayo,El_Gran_Chaco-SMVK-004711.tif|Local fishermen with fishing nets crossing Rio Pilcomayo 1908. File:In_Bolívia.jpg|Pilcomayo River as seen through Tarija Department, Bolivia. File:Riodelaplatabasinmap.png|Map of the Rio de la Plata Basin. File:Puente Misión La Paz - Pozo Hondo Chaco Paraguay.jpg|The Misión La Paz Bridge over the Pilcomayo River, between Pozo Hondo, Boquerón and Misión La Paz, Salta, (PY)-(AR) border. File:Rio_Pilcomayo_en_el_Aguarague.jpg|The Pilcomayo River seen at the Aguaragüe National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area, in Bolivia File:20170807_Bolivia_1322_sRGB(37949270772).jpg|A 19th century-built footbridge over the Pilcomayo River as seen at Bolivia's Route 5, between Sucre and Potosí, Southern Bolivia. File:Valle_Pilcomayo.jpg|Pilcomayo Valley, near Villamontes, Bolivia. File:Riopilcomayoenpnriopilcomayo.jpg|Pilcomayo River seen at the Río Pilcomayo National Park, Argentina File:Pilcomayo_al_Sur_desde_el_puente_San_Ignacio.jpg|Pilcomayo River, near Asunción.

References

Sources

• Kerr, Graham. A Naturalist in the Gran Chaco. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1950.
• Pilcomayo River. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 18, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/460371/Pilcomayo-River
• W. H. Strosnider, F. Llanos, R.W. Nairn: LEGACY OF NEARLY 500 YEARS OF MINING IN POTOSÍ, BOLIVIA: STREAM WATER QUALITY (pdf) - conference paper at the 2008 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation. New Opportunities to Apply Our Science, June 14–19, Richmond, VA.

References

1. "Rio Pilcomayo".
2. {{GEOnet2. 32FA883A05DE3774E0440003BA962ED3. Río Pilcomayo
3. Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe, Quechua-Castellano, Castellano Quechua, La Paz, 2007: '''''mayu''''' - ''s. Río.'' '''''pillku''''' - ''adj. Rojo (sínón.: Puka).''
4. Varis, Olli. (2008). "Management of Transboundary Rivers and Lakes". Springer.
5. Jorge Molina Carpio, Daniel Espinoza Romero, Balance hídrico superficial de la cuenca alta del río Pilcomayo, La Paz 2005 (Spanish)
6. [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/jog/latin_america/txu-oclc-224571173-se19-16.jpg lib.utexas.edu] Map showing Jach'a Juqhu River from the origin
7. link. (2014-10-16 population data and map showing Jach'a Juqhu River)
8. Kerr, p. 116
9. The Natokoi treated all neighbors as enemies, but none more so than the Tobas Tribe and the Nimká Tribe, their respective neighbors to the southwest and northeast. Guerrilla warfare has long existed between the tribes, isolating the tribe from direct intercourse with the European settlers in the late 19th century. Men of this tribe are generally tall and skinny, built like hunters or warriors, whereas women are short in size.Kerr, p. 117

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::