The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
, accounting for about 15% of the water in the basin. A map from
Emanuel Bowen
Emanuel Bowen (1694 – 8 May 1767) was a Welsh map engraver, who achieved the unique distinction of becoming Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of Great Britain and Louis XV of France. Bowen was highly regarded by his contemporaries for p ...
in 1747, held by the
David Rumsey Map Collection
The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection is a large private map collection with over 150,000 maps and cartographic items. The collection was created by David Rumsey who, after making his fortune in real estate, focused initially on collecting ...
, refers to the Madeira by the pre-colonial, indigenous name Cuyari.
The River of Cuyari, called by the Portuguese Madeira or the Wood River, is formed by two great rivers, which join near its mouth. It was by this River, that the Nation of Topinambes passed into the River Amazon.
Climate
The mean inter-annual precipitations on the great basins vary from , the entire upper Madeira basin receiving . The greatest extremes of rainfall are between . Even just below the confluence that forms it, the Madeira is one of the largest rivers of the world, with a mean inter-annual discharge of , i.e., per year, approximately half the discharge of the
Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
. On the further course towards the Amazon, the mean discharge of the Madeira increases up to .
Course
Between
Guajará-Mirim
Guajará-Mirim is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. It is located at an altitude of 128 meters. Its population was 46,556 (2020) and its area is 24,856 km².IBGE /ref>
Location
Guajará-Mirim lies along the Mamoré River, j ...
and the falls of Teotônio, the Madeira receives the drainage of the north-eastern slopes of the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
from
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department.
Situated on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia ...
to
Cuzco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...
, the whole of the south-western slope of Brazilian
Mato Grosso and the northern slope of the
Chiquitos sierras. In total this catchment area, which is slightly more than the combined area of all headwaters, is ,
[Water and Salt Balances of the Bolivian Amazon]
UNESCO almost equal in area to France and Spain combined. The waters flow into the Madeira from many large rivers, the principal of which, (from east to west), are the
Guaporé or Iténez, the
Baures and
Blanco
Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to:
People
*Blanco (surname) Fictional characters
*Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth
* Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge''
* El Blanco, albin ...
, the
Itonamas or San Miguel, the
Mamoré,
Beni
is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI).
She was initially best known fo ...
, and
Madre de Dios or Mayutata, all of which are reinforced by numerous secondary but powerful affluents. The climate of the upper catchment area varies from humid in the western edge with the origin of the river's main stem by volume (Río Madre de Dios, Río Beni) to semi arid in the southernmost part with the Andine
headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
of the main stem by length (
Río Caine
Caine is a river located in the eastern cordilleras of the Bolivian Andes in South America. It flows through the Cochabamba Department and the Potosí Department
Potosí (; Aymara: ''Putusi''; qu, P'utuqsi) is a department in southwestern ...
,
Río Rocha
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
,
Río Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio ...
, Mamoré).
All of the upper branches of the river Madeira find their way to the falls across the open, almost level
Mojos
The Mojos were a British beat group from the 1960s, best known for their hit UK single, " Everything's Alright", with two other singles charting low in the UK Singles Chart in 1964.
Biography
The band formed under the name the Nomads as a d ...
and
Beni
is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI).
She was initially best known fo ...
plains, of which are yearly flooded to an average depth of about for a period of from three to four months.
From its source in the confluence of Madre de Dios and
Mamoré rivers and downstream to
Abuna River
The Abuna River ( es, Río Abuná, pt, Rio Abunã) is a river in South America. As a part of the Amazon Basin, it forms part of the border between northern Bolivia and north-western Brazil.
The river has a total length of . It originates in sev ...
the Madeira flows northward forming
border between Bolivia and Brazil. Below its confluence with the latter tributary the flow of river changes to north-eastward direction, inland of
Rondônia state of Brazil. The section of the river from the border to
Porto Velho
Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border of ...
has notable drop of bed and was not navigable. Before 2012 the falls of Teotônio and of
San Antônio existed here, they had higher flow rate and bigger level drop than more famous
Boyoma Falls
Boyoma Falls, formerly known as Stanley Falls, is a series of seven cataracts, each no more than high, extending over more than along a curve of the Lualaba River between the river port towns of Ubundu and Kisangani (also known as Boyoma) in t ...
in Africa. Currently these rapids are submerged by the reservoir of
Santo Antônio Dam
The Santo Antônio Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River southwest of Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The dam's run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station have 50 turbines each rated at 71.6 MW resulting in a total inst ...
. Below
Porto Velho
Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border of ...
the Madeira meanders north-eastward through the Rondônia and
Amazonas states of north west Brazil to its junction with the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
.
The
Rio Madeira Sustainable Development Reserve
The Rio Madeira Sustainable Development Reserve ( pt, Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Madeira) is a Sustainable development reserve (Brazil), sustainable development reserve in the state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas, Braz ...
, created in 2006, extends along the north bank of the river opposite the town of
Novo Aripuanã
Novo Aripuanã is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas.
History
The region was originally inhabited by the Toras, Barés, Muras, Urupás, Araras and ot ...
.
At its mouth is
Ilha Tupinambaranas, an extensive marshy region formed by the Madeira's distributaries.
Navigation
The Madeira river rises more than during the
rainy season
The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs.
Rainy Season may also refer to:
* ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King
* "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni
* '' ...
, and ocean vessels may ascend it to the Falls of San Antonio, near
Porto Velho
Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border of ...
, Brazil, above its mouth; but in the dry months, from June to November, it is only navigable for the same distance for craft drawing about of water. The
Madeira-Mamoré Railroad
The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad is an abandoned railroad built in the Brazilian state of Rondônia between 1907 and 1912. The railroad links the cities of Porto Velho and Guajará-Mirim. It became known as the "Devil's Railroad" because thousands o ...
runs in a loop around the unnavigable section to
Guajará-Mirim
Guajará-Mirim is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. It is located at an altitude of 128 meters. Its population was 46,556 (2020) and its area is 24,856 km².IBGE /ref>
Location
Guajará-Mirim lies along the Mamoré River, j ...
on the Mamoré River, but is not functional, limiting shipping from the Atlantic at Porto Velho.
Today, it is also one of the
Amazon basin's most active waterways, and helps export close to four million tons of grains, which are loaded onto barges in
Porto Velho
Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border of ...
, where both
Cargill and Amaggi have loading facilities, and then shipped down the Madeira to the ports of
Itacoatiara
Itacoatiara is one of the 48 official neighborhoods into which the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is divided.
Beach
Itacoatiara beach is located about 30 minutes east of downtown Niterói by car, or one hour by bus.
Itacoatiar ...
, near the mouth of the Madeira, just upstream on the left bank of the Amazon, or further down the Amazon, to the port of
Santarem, at the mouth of the Tapajos River. From these two ports,
Panamax-type ships then export the grains - mainly soy and corn - to Europe and Asia. The Madeira waterway is also used to take fuel from the REMAN refinery (
Petrobras) in
Manaus, state capital of
Amazonas, to
Porto Velho
Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border of ...
, from where the states of
Acre,
Rondônia and parts of
Mato Grosso are supplied mainly with gasoline (petrol) refined in
Manaus. Cargo barges also use the Madeira on the route between Manaus and Porto Velho, which is
along the
Rio Negro,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
and Madeira, connecting Manaus' industrial district with the rest of Brazil, as Manaus is land-locked as far as logistics with the rest of the country are concerned, to bring in part of its raw materials, and export its produce to the major consumer centres of
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
and
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
. In 2012, the cargo amounted to 287,835 tons
(both directions). The total tonnage shipped in 2012 on the Madeira accounted to 5,076,014.
Two large dams (see below) are under construction as part of the
IIRSA The Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA) is a development plan to link South America's economies through new transportation, energy, and telecommunications projects.
IIRSA investments are expected t ...
regional integration project. The dam projects include large ship-locks capable of moving oceangoing vessels between the impounded reservoir and the downstream river. If the project is completed, "more than of waterways upstream from the dams in Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru would become navigable."
Ecology
As typical of Amazonian rivers with the primary headwaters in the Andes, the Madeira River is
turbid
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality.
Fluids can ...
because of high sediment levels and it is
whitewater
Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
, but some of its tributaries are
clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to:
Places Canada
* Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta
* Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta
* Clearwater, Briti ...
(e.g.,
Aripuanã
Aripuanã is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil. It is located on the banks of the Aripuanã River
Aripuanã River ( pt, Rio Aripuanã) is a river in the Mato Grosso and Amazonas states in north-w ...
and
Ji-Paraná
Ji-Paraná is the second most populous municipality in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, with a population of 130,009, and the 16th most populous city of the Brazilian North Region, the 210th most populous city of Brazil, and the 113th of the Braz ...
) or
blackwater (e.g.,
Manicoré
Manicoré is a municipality located in the south-east of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Location
The population of Manicoré was 56,583 (2020) and its area is 48,282 km2. The town is located on the banks of the Madeira River about downst ...
).
The
Bolivian river dolphin
The Bolivian river dolphin (''Inia boliviensis'') is a species of the genus ''Inia''.
Taxonomy
Bolivian river dolphins were discovered by the Western world in 1832 by French researcher Alcide d'Orbigny. The Bolivian river dolphin was briefly th ...
, variously considered a subspecies of the
Amazon river dolphin
The Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis''), also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin, is a species of toothed whale classified in the family Iniidae. Three subspecies are currently recognized: ''I. g. geoffrensis'' (Amazon river ...
or a separate species, is restricted to the upper Madeira River system. It has been estimated that there are more than 900 fish species in the Madeira River Basin, making it one of the freshwater systems in the world with the highest
species richness
Species richness is the number of different species represented in an ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the abundances of the species or their relative ab ...
.
In popular culture
The river is the fifth title of the 1993/1999
Philip Glass album ''
Aguas da Amazonia
is a 1993–99 musical composition by the American contemporary classical composer Philip Glass. Its first recording was performed by the Brazilian instrumental group Uakti.
Originally composed as a dance score for a ballet company of Belo Ho ...
''.
Dams
In July 2007, plans have been approved by the Brazilian Government to construct two
hydroelectric dams
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
on the Madeira River, the
Santo Antônio Dam
The Santo Antônio Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River southwest of Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The dam's run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station have 50 turbines each rated at 71.6 MW resulting in a total inst ...
near Porto Velho and the
Jirau Dam
The Jirau Dam is a rock-fill dam with an asphalt-concrete core, currently under construction on the Madeira River in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The dam's hydroelectric power stations will have 50 turbines each 75 MW resulting total installed ...
about 100 km upstream. Both the Jirau and Santo Antonio dams are run-of-the-river projects that do not impound a large reservoir. Both dams also feature some environmental re-mediation efforts (such as fish ladders). As a consequence, it has been suggested that there has not been strong environmental opposition to the implementation of the Madeira river complex. Yet, if the fish ladders fail, "several valuable migratory fish species could suffer near-extinction as a result of the Madeira dams."
There are also concerns with deforestation and pressure on conservation areas and indigenous peoples' territories.
The Worldwatch institute has also criticized the fast-track approval process for "kindler, gentler dams with smaller reservoirs, designed to lessen social and environmental impacts", claiming that no project should "fast-track the licensing of new dams in Amazonia and allow projects to circumvent Brazil's tough environmental laws".
Languages
Indigenous languages of the upper Madeira River basin (in Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru):
[Ramirez, Henri. 2006]
As línguas indígenas do Alto Madeira: estatuto atual e bibliografia básica
''Língua Viva'' vol. 01, n. 01.
PDF
''Note'':
† = extinct language
References
External links
*
The Amazon and Madeira Rivers: Sketches and Descriptions from the Note-Book of an Explorerfrom 1875
{{Authority control
Rivers of Amazonas (Brazilian state)
Rivers of Rondônia
Tributaries of the Amazon River
Rivers of Pando Department