Rio Grande ( Portuguese for "great river") is a river in south-central

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 rises in the

Mantiqueira Mountains The Mantiqueira Mountains (Portuguese: ''Serra da Mantiqueira iterally: Mantiqueira Mountains Chain') are a mountain range in Southeastern Brazil, with parts in the states of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro (st ...

in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

and descends inland, west-northwestward. Its lower course marks a portion of the Minas Gerais-

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

border. At the

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

state border, after a course of , it joins the

Paranaíba River The Paranaíba River is a Brazilian river whose source lies in the state of Minas Gerais in the Mata da Corda mountains, municipality of Rio Paranaíba, at an altitude of 1,148 meters; on the other face of this mountain chain are the sources of t ...

to form the Upper Paraná River. Major tributaries of the Rio Grande are: * Rio Aiuruoca, whose source is in Itamonte; * Rio das Mortes, whose source lies between

Barbacena Barbacena is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. As of 2020, the municipality had 138,204 inhabitants. The total area of the municipality is . Barbacena is known for its strong Italian influence. The Rodrigo Silva Colonial Nucl ...

and

Senhora dos Remédios Senhora dos Remédios is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Campo das Vertentes and to the microregion of Barbacena. In 2020, the estimated population was 10,467. See also * Lis ...

; * Rio Jacaré, whose source is in the Serra do Galba; * Rio Sapucaí, whose source is in the

in São Paulo; *

Rio Pardo Rio Pardo is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. The population is 34,654 (2022 census) in an area of 2051 km². The elevation is 41 m. See also * List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul References

...

, whose source is in Ipuiúna. The basin of the Rio Grande belongs to the Paraná River basin. The basin has a total area of , of which are located within Minas Gerais, which is equivalent to 17.8% of the state territory. The basin of the Rio Grande is responsible for about 67% of all energy generated in the state. The Grande is interrupted by several

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

s and

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s; in the upper Grande the river forms

Furnas Dam The Furnas Dam () is a Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric dam in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. A small settlement was built near the dam with the same name to house the workers during the dam construction. The main purpose of the dam and reservoi ...

, then Peixotos Dam, and downstream, Luiz Barreto Dam, Jaguara Dam, Volta Grande Dam, Marimbondo Dam and

Água Vermelha Dam The Água Vermelha Dam is an embankment dam on the Grande River near Iturama in Minas Gerais/São Paulo, Brazil. It was constructed for hydroelectric power production and flood control. Construction on the dam began in 1973 and it was completed a ...

. The river plays a major role in production of electricity and, due to

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

and

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

s, and absence of locks, is only navigable by small craft in limited stretches. However the

Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas The Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas (EFOM) was a narrow-gauge railway located in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. At its peak the railway's route totalled . A portion of the railway still operates as a heritage railway, and one ...

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

) operated a passenger and

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

steam navigation A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...

service between 1889 and 1963. The EFOM met the Rio Grande at

Ribeirão Vermelho Ribeirão Vermelho is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Campo das Vertentes and to the microregion of Lavras. In 2020, the estimated population was 4,047. See also * List of mu ...

, from where the service ran down the river for , as far as Capetina. There were six stations on the river between Ribeirão Vermelho and Capetinga, and the railway operated a fleet of 6 stern-wheel

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

s, together with

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s and launches. The service was halted by the completion of the

References

External links

Rio Grande at Wikimapia
Google terrain view, centered on the site of the photo above {{DEFAULTSORT:Grande Rivers of Mato Grosso do Sul Tributaries of the Paraná River Rivers of São Paulo (state) Rivers of Minas Gerais