The San Juan River () is an important river of
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
that flows into the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
through the
Chocó Department
Choco Department is a department of Western Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It ...
. It is approximately and drains a watershed of . The river drains into a large delta that covers nearly . The average discharge of the Rio San Juan is 2,054.67 m³/s.
Geography
The river begins on Cerro Caramanta in the
West Andes. The delta is due north of
Bahía Málaga and
Buenaventura.
The mouth of the river has extensive stands of
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
s, part of the
Esmeraldas-Pacific Colombia mangroves ecoregion.
Hydrometry
Monthly average flow of San Juan River ( m³/second) measured at Penitas station
Data from 25 years
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bar:Sep text:Sept.
bar:Oct text:Oct.
bar:Nov text:Nov.
bar:Dec text:Dec.
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bar:Jan from:0 till: 1707
bar:Feb from:0 till: 1604
bar:Mar from:0 till: 1495
bar:Apr from:0 till: 1893
bar:May from:0 till: 2223
bar:Jun from:0 till: 2072
bar:Jul from:0 till: 1883
bar:Aug from:0 till: 2042
bar:Sep from:0 till: 2229
bar:Oct from:0 till: 2682
bar:Nov from:0 till: 2669
bar:Dec from:0 till: 2157
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bar:Jan at: 1707 fontsize:S text: 1.707 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Feb at: 1604 fontsize:S text: 1.604 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Mar at: 1495 fontsize:S text: 1.495 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Apr at: 1893 fontsize:S text: 1.893 shift:(-10,5)
bar:May at: 2223 fontsize:S text: 2.223 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Jun at: 2072 fontsize:S text: 2.072 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Jul at: 1883 fontsize:S text: 1.883 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Aug at: 2042 fontsize:S text: 2.042 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Sep at: 2229 fontsize:S text: 2.229 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Oct at: 2682 fontsize:S text: 2.682 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Nov at: 2669 fontsize:S text: 2.669 shift:(-10,5)
bar:Dec at: 2157 fontsize:S text: 2.157 shift:(-10,5)
Fauna
A species of snake, ''
Dipsas sanctijoannis'', is named after the San Juan River of Colombia, and is native to the watershed.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("St. John", p. 254).]
See also
*
List of rivers of Colombia
*
Pacific Region, Colombia
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
References
External links
San Juan River deltaon coastal.er.usgs.gov
Rivers of Colombia
{{Colombia-river-stub