Jaú River ( pt, Rio Jaú) is a river of
Amazonas state in north-western
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. It is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
Rio Negro, which itself is a tributary of the
Amazon River
The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of t ...
.
Name
The name "Jaú" comes from that of one of the largest fish in Brazil, the
gilded catfish
The gilded catfish or ''jau'' (''Zungaro zungaro'') is a South American catfish ( order Siluriformes) of the family Pimelodidae. It is also known as ''manguruyu'' or black manguruyu.
Taxonomy
By some sources, it is the only species of the monotyp ...
or jau (Zungaro zungaro).
Basin
The
Jaú National Park
The Jaú National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional do Jaú) is a National park (Brazil), national park located in the state of Amazonas State, Brazil, Amazonas, Brazil.
It is one of the largest forest reserve in South America, and part of a World Herita ...
was created in 1980 to protect an area of
Amazon rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
.
The park contains the entire Jaú River basin between the
Unini River
The Unini River ( pt, Rio Unini) is a river of Amazonas state in north-western Brazil.
It is a right tributary of the Rio Negro.
Course
The Unini River forms where the Água Preta stream joins the Preto River.
It then flows east to the Rio Neg ...
to the north and the
Carabinani River to the south. All three rivers flow east to enter the right bank of the
Rio Negro..
The Carabinani, which flows north to enter the Jaú River a few kilometres before that river enters the Rio Negro, forms the boundary between the Jaú National Park and the
Rio Negro State Park North Section
The Rio Negro State Park North Section ( pt, Parque Estadual do Rio Negro Setor Norte) is a state park in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
It protects an area of Amazon rainforest to the west of the Rio Negro.
Location
The Rio Negro State Park Nor ...
. The last section of the Jaú between the Carabinani and its mouth on the Rio Negro continues the boundary between the two parks.
See also
*
List of rivers of Amazonas
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
Rivers of Amazonas (Brazilian state)
Tributaries of the Rio Negro (Amazon)
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