The Chixoy River or Río Chixoy is a river in
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. The river is called Río Negro from its sources in the highlands of
Huehuetenango and
El Quiché
EL, El or el may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit
* Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things''
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until it reaches the
Chixoy hydroelectric dam (located at ), where the
Río Salamá and Rio Carchela converge with the Río Negro. After the Chixoy dam, the river is called Río Chixoy and flows northwards, marking the departmental limits between
Alta Verapaz and El Quiché, until it reaches the border with
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. It continues along the border for another as the
Salinas river until it finally converges with the
Río la Pasión (at ) to form the
Usumacinta river which flows into the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
.
The Chixoy river's water discharge of is Guatemala's highest. This was one of the main reasons for selecting this river for the construction of the Chixoy Hydroelectric dam. Guatemala's National Institute for Electricity (INDE) is planning the construction of another hydroelectric dam on the Chixoy river. The proposed location of the
Xalalá hydroelectric dam is situated at .
in the municipality of
Ixcán, El Quiché.
See also
*
Chixoy hydroelectric dam
*
Río Negro Massacre
References
External links
Map of Guatemala including the river
Chixoy
Geography of Guatemala
Usumacinta River
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