Average flow rate: 1,756 m³/s (62,010 cu ft/s)
Location: Argentina:
Misiones Province,
Brazil:
Paraná State
Longest drop: 82 metres (269 ft)
Number of drops: 275
Iguazú Falls or
Iguaçu Falls (Spanish:
Cataratas del Iguazú[kataˈɾatas ðel iɣwaˈsu];
Guarani:
Chororõ Yguasu[ɕoɾo'ɾõ ɨɣʷa'su];
Portuguese:
Cataratas do Iguaçu[kataˈɾatɐs du iɡwaˈsu]) are
waterfalls of the
Iguazu River on the
border of the
Argentine province of
Misiones and the
Brazilian state of
Paraná. Together, they make up the largest waterfall in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the heart of the city of
Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through
Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the border between
Argentina and Brazil.
The name "Iguazú" comes from the
Guarani or
Tupi words "
y"
[ɨ], meaning "water", and "
ûasú "
[waˈsu], meaning "big".Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a
canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish
ConquistadorÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541
