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 km2 180,286 mi2 ‡[n 2]	6,090 x 106 m3 2.15 x 1011 ft3 [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 km2 243,547 mi2 ‡[n 5]	17,898 x 106 m3 6.321 x 1011 ft3 [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 km2 49,570 mi2 ‡[n 8]	115,536 x 106 m3 4.0801 x 1012 ft3 [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 km2 34,455 mi2	1,912 x 106 m3 6.75 x 1010 ft3	Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila
5	Culiacán River	Pacific Ocean 24°29′32″N 107°43′55″W	875 km 544 mi	15,731 km2 6,074 mi2	3,161 x 106 m3 1.116 x 1011 ft3	Sinaloa
6	Balsas River	Pacific Ocean 17°56′22″N 102°08′14″W	770 km 478 mi	117,406 km2 45,331 mi2	16,587 x 106 m3 5.858 x 1011 ft3	Puebla, Morelos, Michoacán, Guerrero
7	Lerma River	Lake Chapala 20°15′00″N 103°00′00″W	708 km 440 mi	47,116 km2 18,192 mi2	4,742 x 106 m3 1.675 x 1011 ft3	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 km2 29,504 mi2	7,849 x 106 m3 2.772 x 1011 ft3	Jalisco, Nayarit
9	Fuerte River	Gulf of California 25°48′00″N 109°25′00″W	540 km 336 mi	33,590 km2 12,970 mi2	5,176 x 106 m3 1.828 x 1011 ft3	Sinaloa
10	Pánuco River	Gulf of Mexico 22°16′00″N 97°47′00″W	510 km 317 mi	84,956 km2 32,802 mi2	20,330 x 106 m3 7.18 x 1011 ft3	Veracruz
11	Rio Conchos	Rio Grande 25°07′00″N 98°32′00″W	485 km 301 mi[6]	68,386 km2 26,404 mi2[7]	2,714 x 106 m3 9.58 x 1010 ft3[8]	Chihuahua
12	Sonora River	Gulf of California 28°47′06″N 111°55′11″W	421 km 262 mi	27,740 km2 10,710 mi2	408 x 106 m3 1.44 x 1010 ft3	Sonora
13	Soto La Marina River	Gulf of Mexico 23°45′56″N 97°44′13″W	416 km 258 mi	21,183 km2 8,179 mi2	2,086 x 106 m3 7.37 x 1010 ft3	Tamaulipas
14	Yaqui River	Gulf of California 27°39′17″N 110°37′26″W	410 km 255 mi	72,540 km2 28,010 mi2	3,163 x 106 m3 1.117 x 1011 ft3	Sonora
15	Sinaloa River	Gulf of California 25°16′51″N 108°29′43″W	400 km 249 mi	12,260 km2 4,730 mi2	2,126 x 106 m3 7.51 x 1010 ft3	Sinaloa
16	San Fernando River	Gulf of Mexico 24°55′00″N 97°40′00″W	400 km 249 mi	17,744 km2 6,851 mi2	1,545 x 106 m3 5.46 x 1010 ft3	Tamaulipas
17	Mayo River	Gulf of California 26°45′00″N 109°47′00″W	386 km 240 mi	15,113 km2 5,835 mi2	1,232 x 106 m3 4.35 x 1010 ft3	Chihuahua, Sonora
18	Tecolutla River	Gulf of Mexico 20°29′00″N 97°00′00″W	375 km 233 mi	7,903 km2 3,051 mi2	6,095 x 106 m3 2.152 x 1011 ft3	Veracruz
19	Jamapa River	Gulf of Mexico 19°02′00″N 96°08′00″W	368 km 229 mi	4,061 km2 1,568 mi2	2,563 x 106 m3 9.05 x 1010 ft3	Veracruz
20	Papaloapan River	Gulf of Mexico 18°42′00″N 95°38′00″W	354 km 220 mi	46,517 km2 17,960 mi2	44,662 x 106 m3 1.5772 x 1012 ft3	Oaxaca, Veracruz
21	Verde River	Pacific Ocean 16°25′23″N 94°52′56″W	342 km 213 mi	5,937 km2 2,292 mi2	5,937 x 106 m3 2.097 x 1011 ft3	Oaxaca
22	Concepción River	Gulf of California 30°32′00″N 113°02′00″W	335 km 208 mi	25,808 km2 9,965 2	123 x 106 m3 4.3 x 109 ft3	Sonora
23	Coatzacoalcos River	Gulf of Mexico 18°09′00″N 94°24′00″W	325 km 202 mi	17,369 km2 6,706 mi2	28,093 x 106 m3 9.921 x 1011 ft3	Oaxaca, Veracruz
24	San Lorenzo River	Gulf of California 28°24′00″N 110°19′00″W	315 km 196 mi	8,919 km2 3,444 mi2	1,680 x 106 m3 5.9 x 1010 ft3	Durango, Sinaloa
25	Sonoyta River	Gulf of California 31°16′00″N 113°19′00″W	311 km 193 mi	7,653 km2 2,955 mi2	16 x 106 m3 570 x 106 ft3	Sonora
26	San Pedro River	Pacific Ocean 21°43′41″N 105°29′30″W	255 km 158 mi	26,480 km2 10,220 mi2	3,417 x 106 m3 1.207 x 1011 ft3	Durango, Nayarit

See also

• List of rivers of Mexico
• List of rivers of the Americas by coastline

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.