The Pindaré River is a river in

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

state of north-central

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 ...

. The Pindaré rises in the low hills which separate its basin from that of the

Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( pt, Rio Tocantins, link=no , , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan ...

to the south. In its lower reaches it is called the Pindaré-Mirim. It is a left tributary of the

Mearim River The Mearim River is a river in Maranhão state of northern Brazil. The river originates in the southern part of Maranhão, and drains north into the Baía de São Marcos, an estuary that also receives the Pindaré and Grajaú rivers, which are ...

, which it joins not far from that river's mouth in the

Baía de São Marcos The Baía de São Marcos is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Maranhão state of northeastern Brazil. The bay is an estuary approximately long and up to wide. It receives several rivers, including the Grajaú, Mearim, and Pindaré. The Mearim ...

. The

Serra do Tiracambu The Serra do Tiracambu is a mountain range in Maranhão state of north-central Brazil. The range runs north and south, and forms the divide between the basins of the Gurupí River to the west and the Pindaré River to the east. The range lies withi ...

lies to the west, and separates the basin of the Pindaré from that of the

Gurupí River The Gurupí River is a river in north-central Brazil which forms the boundary between Maranhão and Pará states. The Gurupí rises in the low hills which separate its basin from that of the Tocantins River to the south, and flows north into the At ...

. Part of the river's basin lies in the

Gurupi Biological Reserve Gurupi Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica do Gurupi) is a biological reserve in the State of Maranhão, in Brazil. Location The Gurupi Biological Reserve covers parts of the municipalities of Centro Novo do Maranhão and Bom Jardim i ...

, a full protected conservation unit created in 1988. Average annual rainfall is . Temperatures range from with an average of . The Pindaré basin is home to

tropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally foun ...

, and the river divides the

Tocantins–Araguaia–Maranhão moist forests The Tocantins–Araguaia–Maranhão moist forests (NT0170), also called the Tocantins/Pindaré moist forests, is an ecoregion in the north of Brazil to the south of the mouth of the Amazon River. It is part of the Amazon biome. The ecoregion con ...

to the west from the Maranhão Babaçu forests to the east.

References

Rivers of Maranhão {{Maranhão-river-stub