The Tiputini River is a tributary of the
Napo River
The Napo River ( es, Río Napo) is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the east Andean volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.
The total length is . The river drains an area of . The mean annual discha ...
in eastern
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. It is the first major, navagable river south of the Napo and forms the northern border of
Yasuni National Park. Unlike the Napo, the Tiputini has a relatively deep, narrow channel carved deep into the clay of the
Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
, and it often fluctuates in depth by several meters from day to day.
Though there are no major settlements along the Tiputini, there are several small
Huaorani communities along its western half, and the
Tiputini Biodiversity Station is situated on its north bank. An oil road also crosses the Tiputini River several times on the western edge of Yasuni National Park.
Rivers of Ecuador
Upper Amazon
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