Araguaya river

Araguaia River (Rio Araguaia)
A tree in the Araguaia National Park in flood season
Country	Brazil
States	Goiás, Mato Grosso, , Pará
Cities	Aragarças, Barra do Garças
Mouth
- coordinates	5°22′34″S 48°43′08″W / 5.37611°S 48.71889°W / -5.37611; -48.71889Coordinates: 5°22′34″S 48°43′08″W / 5.37611°S 48.71889°W / -5.37611; -48.71889
Length	1,910 km (1,187 mi)
Basin	358,125 km2 (138,273 sq mi)
Discharge	for Conceicaodo Araguaia
- average	6,172 m3/s (217,962 cu ft/s)
Map of the Araguaia/Tocantins Watershed

The Araguaia River (Portuguese: Rio Araguaia [ˈʁi.u ɐɾɐˈɡwaj.jɐ]) is one of the major rivers of Brazil, though it is almost equal in volume at its confluence with the Tocantins. It has a total length of approximately 2,627 km. Araguaia means "river of (red) macaws" in the Tupi language.

The Araguaia River comes from Goiás-Mato Grosso south borders. From there it flows northeast to a junction with the near the town of São João.

Along its course, the river forms the border between the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Pará. Roughly in the middle of its course the Araguaia splits into two forks (with the western one retaining the name Araguaia and the eastern one being called the Javaés River). These later reunite, forming the Ilha do Bananal, the world's largest river island. The vein of the Javaés forms a broad inland where it pours back into the main Araguaia, a 100,000 hectare expanse of igapós flooded forest, blackwater river channels, and oxbow lakes called Cantão, protected by the Cantão State Park. This is one of the biologically richest areas of the eastern Amazon, with over 700 species of birds, nearly 300 species of fish, large populations species such as the giant otter, the black cayman, the world's largest freshwater fish, the pirarucú, and the Araguaian river dolphin (or Araguaian boto) all occurring within a large area.

A large portion of the Araguaia's course is navigable all year, but the river below the Cantão wetlands is interrupted by rapids.