The Teles Pires ( pt, Rio São Manuel) is a long river in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The river flows through the state of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

and its lower part marks the border between the states of Mato Grosso and

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

. At its mouth it joins

Juruena River The Juruena River ( pt, Rio Juruena) is a long river in west-central Brazil, in the state of Mato Grosso. Course The Juruena originates in the Parecis plateau. Within Mato Grosso the river defines the eastern boundary of the Igarapés do Juruen ...

and together they form the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...

, which is one of the biggest tributaries of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

. The most important settlement along the river is Alta Floresta. One writer says that it was originally called the Paranatinga, and was renamed after Captain Telles Pires who died exploring the river in 1889. Several dams are planned on the river in the "Hidrovia Tapajos/Teles Pires" project to create a navigable waterway connecting the interior of Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. The waterway will consist of five dams on the Teles Pires river ( Magessi Dam, Sinop Dam, Colíder Dam,

Teles Pires Dam The Teles Pires Dam is a Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity, run-of-the-river hydroelectric dam on the Teles Pires, Teles Pires River, upstream of the confluence with the Tapajós river, on the border of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Par ...

, Sao Manoel Dam) and the Foz do Apiacas Dam on the Apiacas river. The Colíder Dam and the

are currently under construction, while the smaller upstream dams are still in the planning stages.

References

External links

Teles Pires in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English (bartleby.com)
(outdated length)
''Hidrovia Tapajos - Teles Pires'' - Regierungsdokument (portuguese)
Rivers of Mato Grosso Rivers of Pará {{Pará-river-stub