Key Facts about Negro River

About Negro River:

• The Rio Negro is one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon River.
• It is also one of the world’s largest rivers in terms of discharge.
• Course:
  • Origin: It originates in several headstreams, including the Vaupés (Mapés) and the Guainía, which rise in the rain forest of eastern Colombia. 
  • It flows along the Colombian and Venezuelan border before crossing into Brazil, where it becomes the Rio Negro. 
  • The Negro meanders generally east-southeastward, picking up the Branco River and other tributaries, to Manaus, Brazil (the largest city in the Amazon Rainforest).
  • There it joins the Solimões Riverto form the Amazon. 
  • It passes through Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil.
• The river was named the Negro, which means black in Portuguese because of the water’s dark coloration. 
  • It is caused by the decomposition of organic matter and the presence of tannins leached from surrounding vegetation, giving the river its distinctively rich coloration. 
• The Rio Negro is the largest blackwater river in the world, and despite the coloration, the water contains little sediment and ranks as one of the cleanest rivers on Earth.
• The reserves and national parks along the Rio Negro form a giant protected area called the Central Amazon Ecological Corridor, which is the largest section of protected Amazon Rainforest. 
  • At 52 million hectares, this is also one of the world’s largest protected areas.