Río Paraná

The Río Paraná is the country's second largest river, with a length of 4,700 kilometers. The Ro Paraná runs 800 kilometers from Salto del Guairá, where it enters Paraguay, to its confluence with the Ro Paraguay, and then southward to the Ro de la Plata Estuary in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Large ships can only navigate the Rio Paraná up to Encarnación, although smaller boats may travel a little further. The river is deep enough to allow vessels with drafts of up to three meters to reach Salto del Guairá during the summer months, although seasonal and other sporadic circumstances severely limit the river's navigational worth.

Sudden floods on the upper channel can boost the water level by five meters in twenty-four hours; nevertheless, west of Encarnación, the riverbed boulders can fall within one meter of the surface during the winter, essentially cutting off contact between the upper river and Buenos Aires.

The tributaries of the Ro Paraná that flow eastward over the Paranea area are shorter, faster-flowing, and smaller than the tributaries of the Ro Paraguay. Above Encarnación, sixteen of these rivers and several minor streams reach the Ro Paraná. This is considered the longest rivers in Paraguay.

Length: 4.880 km