The Suchiate River (, ) is a river that marks the southwesternmost part of
the border between
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
(state of
Chiapas
Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
) and
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
(department of
San Marcos). From its sources on the southern slopes of the
Tacaná volcano in the
Sierra Madre range of Guatemala, the 161 km (100 mi) long river flows in a south-southwesterly direction to the border with Mexico at
Unión Juárez (), past the border towns
Talismán and El Carmen, and then
Ciudad Tecún Umán
Ayutla () is a municipality in the San Marcos Department of Guatemala. It is situated along the Suchiate River natural border with Mexico in the southern part of the department. The municipality center is Ciudad Tecún Umán. There is a combined ...
and
Ciudad Hidalgo (Chiapas) further downstream, where the
Puente Rodolfo Robles
Puente Rodolfo Robles is a bridge across the Suchiate River between Ciudad Hidalgo in the Mexican state of Chiapas and Ciudad Tecún Umán in Guatemala. The bridge is named after Rodolfo Robles, the Guatemalan physician who first described " ...
and a
railway bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...
cross the river, and on to the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. Its name comes from the
Nahuatl
Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
name ''Xochiatl'' meaning "flower-water".
The pre-Columbian archaeological site of
Izapa
Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it is best known for its occupation during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, ...
lies along the river.
References
*
*The Prentice Hall American World Atlas, 1984.
*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.
See also
*
Rail transport in Guatemala
Guatemala had a network of narrow gauge railroads.
History
Construction of the first railway in Guatemala commenced in 1878 and the first section began operation in 1880, connecting Puerto San José and Escuintla, being extended to Gu ...
*
Rail transport in Mexico
Mexico has a Freight rail transport, freight railway system owned by the national government and operated by various entities under concessions (charters) granted by the national government. The railway system provides freight and passenger ser ...
Rivers of Guatemala
Rivers of Mexico
Guatemala–Mexico border
International rivers of North America
Rivers of Chiapas
{{Guatemala-river-stub