The Lempa River ( es, Río Lempa) is a river in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
.
Geography
Its sources are located in between the
Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to:
Places and mountains Mexico
*Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona
*Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico
*S ...
and the
Sierra del Merendón
Sierra del Merendón is a mountain range extending on the eastern border of Guatemala and Honduras. Its south-western border is marked by the Lempa River valley, its northern border by the Motagua River valley. The mountain range has several diffe ...
in southern
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
, near the town of
Olopa.
In Guatemala the river is called ''Río Olopa'' and flows southwards for before entering
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and changing its name to Lempa river at . In Honduras it flows through
Ocotepeque Department
Ocotepeque is one of the 18 departments of Honduras, Central America, located in the West and bordering both El Salvador and Guatemala. It was formed in 1906 from part of Copán department. The capital and main city is Nueva Ocotepeque.
The depa ...
for , and crosses the border with
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...
at the town of
Citalá
Citalá is a municipality in the Chalatenango department
Chalatenango () is a department of El Salvador, located in the northwest of the country. The capital is the city of Chalatenango. The Chalatenango Department encompasses 2,017 km² ...
() in the department of
Chalatenango. The river continues its course for another in El Salvador, flowing in a generally southwards direction until it reaches 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 conti ...
in the department of
San Vicente.
The river forms a small part of the international boundary between El Salvador and Honduras.
The river's
watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
covers , of which (56 percent) is in El Salvador, in Honduras and in Guatemala.
Forty-nine percent of El Salvador's territory is covered by the Lempa river basin,
and 77.5 percent of the Salvadoran population lives in cities, towns, and villages that are in its basin, including the capital city of
San Salvador
San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital it ...
.
Hydroelectricity
There are several hydroelectric dams along the river. In El Salvador there is the Guayojo dam, the
Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam, the 5 de Noviembre dam, and the 15 de Septiembre dam which can be easily seen from the
Pan-American highway
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
.
See also
*
List of rivers of Guatemala
This is a list of rivers in Guatemala arranged by drainage basin. This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Gulf of Mexico
The following rivers flow into the Grijalva River in ...
*
List of rivers of Honduras
Rivers in Honduras is a list of the rivers in Honduras, including those it shares with neighbours. Among the most important river in Honduras is the Ulúa River, Ulúa, which flows through the economically important Valle de Sula. Numerous other ...
*
List of rivers of El Salvador
This is a list of rivers in El Salvador.
El Salvador has 58 river basins which all drain to the Pacific Ocean. The total amount of water discharged into the Pacific is 19 million m³ in a normal year.
Additionally, there are several endorheic ba ...
*
List of rivers of the Americas by coastline
This list of rivers of the Americas by coastline includes the major coastal rivers of the Americas arranged by country. A link to a map of rivers with known coordinates is listed at right. The ocean coasts are demarcated as follows:
*Arctic ...
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of El Salvador
Rivers of Guatemala
Rivers of Honduras
International rivers of North America
El Salvador–Honduras border
Border rivers