The Bermejo River ( Spanish, Río Bermejo) is a river in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

that flows from

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

to the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters in ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The river is generally called Bermejo in spite of its different names along its way, but it also has its own Native American names; in Wichí it is called Teuco, and in Guaraní it is called Ypitá. In the plains of Argentina's

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Gro ...

the Bermejo forms

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s and splits into two branches. The southern branch is the bed of the old Bermejo River, now an

intermittent stream Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years.(Tzoraki et al., 2007) Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the earth's surface. ...

called Río Bermejito. The northern branch is now the

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

of the Bermejo and is called the Teuco River (''Río Teuco''), Bermejo Nuevo, or simply the Bermejo River. The two branches rejoin at , near Villa Río Bermejito, forming the Lower Bermejo River. The Bermejo River is long and has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of in area. Its mean annual

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

is irregular and varies between and . The river is born in a mountain range known as

Sierra de Santa Victoria Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

around coordinates near Tarija, a few kilometres southeast of Chaguaya in Bolivia, and not far from

La Quiaca La Quiaca is a small city in the north of the , on the southern bank of the La Quiaca River, opposite the town of Villazón, Bolivia. It lies at the end of National Route 9, from San Salvador de Jujuy (the provincial capital), and at an altitude ...

Jujuy Province Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south. Geography There are three main areas in Jujuy: * ...

, Argentina. In general, it maintains a southeastern direction. At its highest part, its main

tributaries 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 b ...

are the

Lipeo River The Lipeo River (Spanish, ''Río Lipeo'') is a river of Argentina. It is a tributary of the Bermejo River. See also * List of rivers of Argentina * List of tributaries of the Río de la Plata This is a list of tributaries of the Río de la Pla ...

, and further downstream the

Grande de Tarija Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas * Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) * Arr ...

, the

Iruya River The Iruya River (Spanish, ''Río Iruya'',) is a river of Argentina. It is a tributary of the Pescado River. See also * List of rivers of Argentina * List of tributaries of the Río de la Plata This is a list of tributaries of the Río de la P ...

, and the San Francisco River. It forms part of the international boundary between Argentina and Bolivia. The Bermejo is not navigable. In the late 19th century, numerous attempts were made to open up the commercial navigation of the river, but all of them failed, largely due to the river's shallow waters, which carry enormous amounts of sediment. Near the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reac ...

, the river splits in two; the smaller southern branch, Bermejito, and the northern branch that known as the Teuco River (also called Bermejo or ''Bermejo Nuevo''). When leaving the province of Salta, the Teuco marks the boundary between the provinces of Chaco and

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

. The Bermejito, is intermittent and

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

ing. It crosses Chaco Province near the El Impenetrable jungle. On the shores of this river can still be seen the ruins of the former towns of Concepcion del Bermejo, San Bernardo de Vértiz (), and La Cangayé (). The Teuco follows its course to finality and into the Paraguay River, in front of the city of Pilar, in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. The river carries red-coloured sediments and produces irregular accumulations that can even alter its course, leaving the older paths as wet depressions.

References

{{Coord, 26, 52, S, 58, 23, W, type:river_region:AR_dim:10km_source:GNS, display=title Rivers of Argentina Rivers of Salta Province Rivers of Chaco Province Border rivers Rivers of Formosa Province International rivers of South America Argentina–Bolivia border Rivers of Tarija Department Tributaries of the Paraguay River