Caquetá (Japura)

The Japurá river, also known as the Caquetá River, is a 2,820-kilometer-long river in the Amazon basin. It begins in Colombia and runs east through Brazil before joining the Amazon River. In the Andes of southwest Colombia, the river rises as the Caquetá River. The Caquetá River rises near the Magdalena River's sources and receives additional water from various branches as it travels across Colombia. It is known as the Japurá in Brazil, where it flows southeast. Through a network of canals, the Japurá enters the Amazon River. Small boats can navigate it in Brazil. The Solimes River (as the Amazon's upper Brazilian route is known) receives three more imposing streams from the northwest, the Japurá, the Içá, and the Napo, west of the Rio Negro.

The river flows through the Purus várzea ecoregion for much of its length. Electric eels, piranhas, turtles, and caimans live in the river, as do giant catfish weighing up to 91 kg and measuring up to 1.8 meters in length, as well as electric eels, piranhas, turtles, and caimans. Much of the jungle through which the eastern Caquetá once flowed has been cleared for pasture, rice, corn, manioc, and sugar cane plantations, as well as, more recently, coca crops.

Length: 1,750 miles (shared with Brazil)