The Ireng River (or Maú River, generally used in Portuguese) forms part of

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

's western border with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It flows through the valleys of the

Pakaraima Mountains The Pacaraima or Pakaraima Mountains (, ) are a mountain range primarily in southwestern Guyana, and into northern Brazil and eastern Venezuela. Geography The range extends from west to east for over . Its highest peak is Mount Roraima at above ...

for most of its length. It is the only major river in Guyana which flows from North to South, up to its confluence into the

Takutu River The Takutu River (Takatu River, Tacutu River) is a river in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region of Guyana and Roraima in Brazil. It forms part of the boundary between the two countries. The confluence of the Takutu and Uraricoera Rivers forms ...

. It is one of the northernmost tributaries of the Amazon River system. The sources of the river are in the Monte Roraima National Park, created in 1989. The larger part of the Ireng River basin forms the frontier between Brazil and Guyana. Ireng's main tributaries are the Uailan and Canã rivers on the Brazilian side and the Cacó, Dacã and Socobi rivers on the Guyanese side. All of these rivers merge with the upper and middle sections of the Ireng. Their courses are through breathtaking formations of sedimentary rocks formed by tectonic movements in ancient times. The Ireng River's waters are dark, bearing a striking resemblance to that of Rio Negro near

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, in Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque of Guyana's many rivers. Orinduik Falls and Takagka Falls are located on the Ireng River.

Etymology

Etymologically Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, the term ″Ireng″ comes from the Karib language, whereas ″Maú″ comes from the

Arawak language Arawak (, ), also known as Lokono (Lokono Dian, literally "people's talk" by its speakers), is an Arawakan language spoken by the Lokono (Arawak) Indigenous peoples of South America in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and ...

word ''Mahu'', which is how the plant '' Sterculia pruriens'' (a

malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

abundant in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

) is known to the indigenous people of the region. Another explanation suggests that ''Mahu'' comes from ''Mehru'', which means "fall" and Ireng translates to "river", hence "river of the falls".Notes on an exploratory expedition to the headwaters of the Mau (Ireng) river, Northern Brazilian Amazon
Retrieved: Dezember 8, 2023

Biodiversity in the Ireng

The Ireng River region is home to such reptile species as the

Antilles leaf-toed gecko The Antilles leaf-toed gecko (''Hemidactylus palaichthus''), also known as the Maria Islands leaf-toed gecko or spiny gecko, is a gecko species found in northern South America and the Lesser Antilles. It can be found on small rocks and islets offs ...

(''Hemidactylus palaichthus'') and

rainbow whiptail The rainbow whiptail (''Cnemidophorus lemniscatus'') is a species of lizard found in Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It has also been introduced in Florida and has established populations there. A rainbow whiptail grow ...

(''Cnemidophorus lemniscatus''); amphibians such as the sapo dorado (''Bufo guttatus'') and ''

Leptodactylus bolivianus ''Leptodactylus bolivianus'' is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. Its local name is ''sapo-rana boliviano'' ("Bolivian toad-frog"). It is found in the western to central regions of the Amazon basin, in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Pe ...

''; birds including the

Muscovy duck The Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') is a duck native to the Americas, from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. The species has been Domestic Muscovy duck, domesticated, and feral Muscovy ducks can b ...

(''Cairina moschata''),

black vulture The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Peru, Ce ...

(''Coragyps atratus''),

crested caracara The crested caracara (''Caracara plancus'') is a bird of prey (raptor) in the falcon Family (biology), family, Falconidae. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Polyborus'' before being given in its own genus, ''Caracara (genus), Caracara''. It i ...

(''Caracara plancus''),

double-striped thick-knee The double-striped thick-knee (''Hesperoburhinus bistriatus'') is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. The vernacular name refers to the prominent joints in the long greenish-grey legs, and ''bistriatus'' to the two stripe ...

(''Burhinus bistriatus'') and numerous others; mammals include the

South American tapir The South American tapir (''Tapirus terrestris''), also commonly called the Brazilian tapir (from the Tupi ), the Amazonian tapir, the maned tapir, the lowland tapir, (Brazilian Portuguese), and ''la sachavaca'' (literally "bushcow", in mixed ...

(''Tapirus terrestris''), jaguar (''Panthera onca'') and the

red-rumped agouti The red-rumped agouti (''Dasyprocta leporina''), also known as the golden-rumped agouti, orange-rumped agouti or Brazilian agouti, is a species of agouti from the family Dasyproctidae. Distribution It is native to northeastern South America, ma ...

(''Dasyprocta leporina'').

References

{{Rivers of Guyana Rivers of Guyana Brazil–Guyana border International rivers of South America Rivers of Roraima Border rivers