List of longest rivers of Mexico

Among the longest rivers of Mexico are 26 streams of at least 250 km (160 mi). In the case of rivers such as the Colorado, the length listed in the table below is solely that of the main stem.[1] In the case of the Grijalva and Usumacinta, it is the combined lengths of two river systems that share a delta.[2] In the case of the Nazas and Aguanaval, it is the combined lengths of separate rivers that flow into the same closed basin.[2]

Map showing major rivers in Mexico

Three rivers in this list cross international boundaries or form them. The Colorado and the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte or Río Bravo) begin in the United States and flow into Mexico, while the Usumacinta begins in Guatemala and flows into Mexico.[3][4]

The primary source for the length, watershed, and surface runoff data in the table below is the 10th edition of Statistics on Water in Mexico, published by the National Water Commission in Mexico (CONAGUA); exceptions are as noted. U.S. states and departments of Guatemala appear in italics in the "States" column.

Key
River is not entirely within Mexico.
Watershed is not entirely within Mexico.

Longest rivers of Mexico

#	Name	Mouth[5]	Length	Watershed area	Annual surface runoff	States[3][4]	Image
1	Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte or Río Bravo)	Gulf of Mexico 25°57′22″N 97°08′43″W	3,108 km 1,931 mi [n 1]	466,939 km^2 180,286 mi^2 [n 2]	6,090 x 10^6 m^3 2.15 x 10^11 ft^3 [n 3]	Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas
2	Colorado River	Gulf of California 31°48′57″N 114°48′22″W	2,337 km 1,452 mi [n 4]	630,783 km^2 243,547 mi^2 [n 5]	17,898 x 10^6 m^3 6.321 x 10^11 ft^3 [n 6]	Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Sonora, Baja California
3	Grijalva–Usumacinta Rivers	Bay of Campeche 18°35′20″N 92°41′20″W	1,911 km 1,187 mi [n 7]	128,390 km^2 49,570 mi^2 [n 8]	115,536 x 10^6 m^3 4.0801 x 10^12 ft^3 [n 9]	Petén, Chiapas, Tabasco
4	Nazas–Aguanaval Rivers	Bolsón de Mapimí 25°12′00″N 104°12′00″W	1,081 km 672 mi	89,239 km^2 34,455 mi^2	1,912 x 10^6 m^3 6.75 x 10^10 ft^3	Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila
5	Culiacán River	Pacific Ocean 24°29′32″N 107°43′55″W	875 km 544 mi	15,731 km^2 6,074 mi^2	3,161 x 10^6 m^3 1.116 x 10^11 ft^3	Sinaloa
6	Balsas River	Pacific Ocean 17°56′22″N 102°08′14″W	770 km 478 mi	117,406 km^2 45,331 mi^2	16,587 x 10^6 m^3 5.858 x 10^11 ft^3	Puebla, Morelos, Michoacán, Guerrero
7	Lerma River	Lake Chapala 20°15′00″N 103°00′00″W	708 km 440 mi	47,116 km^2 18,192 mi^2	4,742 x 10^6 m^3 1.675 x 10^11 ft^3	State of Mexico, Querétaro, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Jalisco
8	Rio Grande de Santiago	Pacific Ocean 21°38′00″N 105°26′43″W	562 km 349 mi	76,416 km^2 29,504 mi^2	7,849 x 10^6 m^3 2.772 x 10^11 ft^3	Jalisco, Nayarit
9	Fuerte River	Gulf of California 25°48′00″N 109°25′00″W	540 km 336 mi	33,590 km^2 12,970 mi^2	5,176 x 10^6 m^3 1.828 x 10^11 ft^3	Sinaloa
10	Pánuco River	Gulf of Mexico 22°16′00″N 97°47′00″W	510 km 317 mi	84,956 km^2 32,802 mi^2	20,330 x 10^6 m^3 7.18 x 10^11 ft^3	Veracruz
11	Rio Conchos	Rio Grande 25°07′00″N 98°32′00″W	485 km 301 mi[6]	68,386 km^2 26,404 mi^2[7]	2,714 x 10^6 m^3 9.58 x 10^10 ft^3[8]	Chihuahua
12	Sonora River	Gulf of California 28°47′06″N 111°55′11″W	421 km 262 mi	27,740 km^2 10,710 mi^2	408 x 10^6 m^3 1.44 x 10^10 ft^3	Sonora
13	Soto La Marina River	Gulf of Mexico 23°45′56″N 97°44′13″W	416 km 258 mi	21,183 km^2 8,179 mi^2	2,086 x 10^6 m^3 7.37 x 10^10 ft^3	Tamaulipas
14	Yaqui River	Gulf of California 27°39′17″N 110°37′26″W	410 km 255 mi	72,540 km^2 28,010 mi^2	3,163 x 10^6 m^3 1.117 x 10^11 ft^3	Sonora
15	Sinaloa River	Gulf of California 25°16′51″N 108°29′43″W	400 km 249 mi	12,260 km^2 4,730 mi^2	2,126 x 10^6 m^3 7.51 x 10^10 ft^3	Sinaloa
16	San Fernando River	Gulf of Mexico 24°55′00″N 97°40′00″W	400 km 249 mi	17,744 km^2 6,851 mi^2	1,545 x 10^6 m^3 5.46 x 10^10 ft^3	Tamaulipas
17	Mayo River	Gulf of California 26°45′00″N 109°47′00″W	386 km 240 mi	15,113 km^2 5,835 mi^2	1,232 x 10^6 m^3 4.35 x 10^10 ft^3	Chihuahua, Sonora
18	Tecolutla River	Gulf of Mexico 20°29′00″N 97°00′00″W	375 km 233 mi	7,903 km^2 3,051 mi^2	6,095 x 10^6 m^3 2.152 x 10^11 ft^3	Veracruz
19	Jamapa River	Gulf of Mexico 19°02′00″N 96°08′00″W	368 km 229 mi	4,061 km^2 1,568 mi^2	2,563 x 10^6 m^3 9.05 x 10^10 ft^3	Veracruz
20	Papaloapan River	Gulf of Mexico 18°42′00″N 95°38′00″W	354 km 220 mi	46,517 km^2 17,960 mi^2	44,662 x 10^6 m^3 1.5772 x 10^12 ft^3	Oaxaca, Veracruz
21	Verde River	Pacific Ocean 16°25′23″N 94°52′56″W	342 km 213 mi	5,937 km^2 2,292 mi^2	5,937 x 10^6 m^3 2.097 x 10^11 ft^3	Oaxaca
22	Concepción River	Gulf of California 30°32′00″N 113°02′00″W	335 km 208 mi	25,808 km^2 9,965 ^2	123 x 10^6 m^3 4.3 x 10^9 ft^3	Sonora
23	Coatzacoalcos River	Gulf of Mexico 18°09′00″N 94°24′00″W	325 km 202 mi	17,369 km^2 6,706 mi^2	28,093 x 10^6 m^3 9.921 x 10^11 ft^3	Oaxaca, Veracruz
24	San Lorenzo River	Gulf of California 28°24′00″N 110°19′00″W	315 km 196 mi	8,919 km^2 3,444 mi^2	1,680 x 10^6 m^3 5.9 x 10^10 ft^3	Durango, Sinaloa
25	Sonoyta River	Gulf of California 31°16′00″N 113°19′00″W	311 km 193 mi	7,653 km^2 2,955 mi^2	16 x 10^6 m^3 570 x 10^6 ft^3	Sonora
26	San Pedro River	Pacific Ocean 21°43′41″N 105°29′30″W	255 km 158 mi	26,480 km^2 10,220 mi^2	3,417 x 10^6 m^3 1.207 x 10^11 ft^3	Durango, Nayarit

See also

• List of rivers of Mexico

Notes and references

Notes

1. Of the total, 1,074 km (667 mi) or about 35 percent are in the United States, and 2,034 km (1,264 mi) (about 65 percent) form a common border between Mexico and the United States.[2]
2. Of the total, 225,242 km² (86,966 sq mi) (about 48 percent) are in Mexico, and 241,697 km² (93,320 sq mi) (about 52 percent) are in the United States.[2]
3. Of the total, 5,588 x 10⁶ m³/year (about 92 percent) come from Mexico and 502 x 10⁶ m³/year (about 8 percent) from the United States.[2]
4. Of the total, 2,140 km (1,330 mi) or about 91.5 percent are in the United States; 160 km (99 mi) (about 7 percent) are in Mexico, and 37 km (23 mi) (about 1.5 percent) form a common border between Mexico and the United States.[2]
5. Of the total, 3,840 km² (1,480 sq mi) (about 0.6 percent) are in Mexico, and 626,943 km² (242,064 sq mi) (about 99.4 percent) are in the United States.[2]
6. Of the total, 13 x 10⁶ m³/year, about 0.07 percent, come from Mexico and 17,885 x 10⁶ m³/year (about 99.93 percent) from the United States.[2]
7. Of the total, 1,521 km (945 mi) or about 80 percent are in Mexico, and 390 km (240 mi) (about 20 percent) are in Guatemala.[2]
8. Of the total, 83,553 km² (32,260 sq mi) (about 65 percent) are in Mexico, and 44,837 km² (17,312 sq mi) (about 35 percent) are in Guatemala.[2]
9. Of the total, 71,716 x 10⁶ m³/year (about 62 percent) come from Mexico and 43,820 x 10⁶ m³/year (about 38 percent) from Guatemala.[2]

References

1. Kammerer, J.C. (September 1, 2005). "Largest Rivers in the United States". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
2. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, ed. (June 2010). Statistics on Water in Mexico (PDF) (10th ed.). National Water Commission in Mexico (CONAGUA). pp. 36–39. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
3. The Road Atlas. Chicago, Illinois: Rand McNally & Company. 2008. ISBN 0-528-93961-0.
4. Mexico AdventureMap (Map) (2010 ed.). National Geographic Society. ISBN 978-1-56695-527-0.
5. "GeoNames Search". National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Retrieved June 13, 2011. Approximate coordinates from GeoNames, in some cases adjusted by geolocating with Google Earth.
6. Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 1997. p. 274. ISBN 0-87779-546-0.
7. Benke and Cushing, p. 1079
8. Kelly, Mary E.; Arias Rojo; Héctor M. "River Habitat Restoration in the Chihuahuan Desert: The Río Conchos and the Forgotten River Stretch of the Rio Grande" (PDF). Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy. p. 172. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 21, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2011.

Works cited

• Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed. Rivers of North America. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-088253-1.