The Courantyne River ( ), also known as Corentyne and Corantijn (), is a river in northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

. It is the longest

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the country and creates the border between Suriname and the

East Berbice-Corentyne East Berbice-Corentyne (Region 6) is one of ten regions in Guyana covering the whole of the east of the country. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Nickerie District and Sipaliwini District of Suriname to the east, Brazil to the sou ...

region of Guyana. Its tributaries include

Kutari River Kutari River, also called ''Cutari Rivier'', ''Kutari Creek'' or ''Cutari Creek'', is a small river on the southeastern border of Guyana and the southwestern region of Suriname. The location of the river is part of the disputed Tigri Area in the ...

Coeroeni River The Coeroeni River is a river in South America. It arises in the Tumuc-Humac Mountains, which forms the drainage divide between Pará, Brazil, and Suriname; from there it flows northward. The river is fed by the Aramatau, Kutari and Sipaliwini ...

, New River, and Zombie Creek. In Suriname; Kabalebo River, Lucie River,

Sipaliwini River Sipaliwini River is a river of Suriname, the main source of the Courantyne River. It gives its name to the village of Sipaliwini Savanna and to the Sipaliwini District Sipaliwini is the largest Districts of Suriname, district of Suriname, locat ...

Course

The river runs through the

Guianan moist forests The Guianan moist forests (NT0125) is an ecoregion in the east of Venezuela, north of Brazil and the Guyanas (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana). It is in the Amazon biome. The climate is hot and humid, with two rainy seasons each year. As of 199 ...

ecoregion. It originates in the

Acarai Mountains The Acarai Mountains (also, Akarai Mountains) (; ) are a wet, forested highland region of low mountains located in the southern part of Guyana. This range lies along the common border between Guyana and Brazil. The Acarai Mountains is one of four ...

and flows northward via the Boven (Upper) Courantyne which is the source river for approximately between

and Suriname, emptying into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

near

Corriverton Corriverton is the easternmost town in Guyana. It lies at the mouth of the Corentyne River, opposite Nieuw Nickerie, Suriname, to which it is linked by ferry from South Drain. Corriverton is located about 195 mi/313 km from Georgeto ...

, Guyana and

Nieuw Nickerie Nieuw Nickerie. Retrieved 17 November 2009. is the third largest city in Suriname with a population estimated at . It is the capital (political), capital city of the Nickerie District, Nickerie district, and the terminus of the East-West Link (Sur ...

, Suriname. A ferry service operates between these two towns. A bridge is to be built by

China Road and Bridge Corporation China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is a Chinese state-owned construction and engineering firm that focuses on global infrastructure projects such as highways, skyways, rai ...

. Small ocean-going vessels are able to navigate the river for about to Apura, Suriname.

Waterfalls

The

Wonotobo Falls The Wonotobo Falls (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Wonotobovallen'') are a series of waterfalls in the Courantyne River in Sipaliwini District, Suriname near the border with Guyana. The waterfalls are not navigable. A pre-Columbian petroglyph site is lo ...

, Frederik Willem IV (Anora) Falls, and the King Edward VI Falls are on the Courantyne River. Other falls include the Barrington Brown Falls, the Drios Falls and the Maopityan Falls.

Territorial dispute

Between the upper reaches of the Courantyne, the Upper Courantyne, the Coeroeni and the Koetari rivers lay the controversial

Tigri Area The Tigri Area () or New River Triangle is a forested area in the East Berbice-Corentyne region of Guyana that has been disputed by Suriname since the 19th century. In Suriname, it is seen as an integral part of the Coeroeni Resort located i ...

claimed by both Suriname and Guyana. The Guyanese–Surinamese border is the Guyanese river bank (the west bank of the river), Suriname regarded the left bank of the Courantyne as a border, but Guyana disputes this and viewed the center of the river as a frontier, based on the

Thalweg Doctrine In geography, hydrography, and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line or curve of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Normally only the horizontal position of the curve is considered (as viewed on a map); the corr ...

. This conflict, which has been fueled since the colonial era, was solved in 2007 by a verdict by the Hague Arbitration Court, which settles the border between Guyana and Suriname on the left bank of the river, and the river water body belonging to Suriname. The tribunal that defined the maritime boundary between Suriname and Guyana in 2007 confirmed Surinamese sovereignty over the full width of the entire Courantyne River.Award of the Tribunal
Suriname has control over all ship traffic from the mouth of the Courantyne.

References

{{Rivers of Guyana Rivers of the Tigri Area Rivers of Suriname Rivers of Guyana Guyana–Suriname border International rivers of South America Nickerie District Border rivers

Course

Waterfalls

Territorial dispute

See also

References