This is a list of rivers of Peru, that are at least partially in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. The Peruvian government has published guidelines for the preparation of river flow studies in April 2015.

Longest rivers

The lengths of the following 10 rivers are according to a 2005 statistical publication by the

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática The Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (INEI) ("National Institute of Statistics and Informatics") is a semi-autonomous Peruvian government agency which coordinates, compiles, and evaluates statistical information for the country. ...

listing the 44 most important rivers of Peru.

By Drainage Basin

This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Rivers longer than 400 kilometers are in bold font.

Atlantic Ocean

* Amazon River **''Madeira River'' (Brazil) ***

Madre de Dios River The Madre de Dios River () is a river shared by Bolivia and Peru which is homonymous to the Peruvian region it runs through. On Bolivian territory, it receives the Beni River, close to the town of Riberalta, which later joins with the Mamore Riv ...

****''Orthon River'' (Bolivia) *****Tahuamanu River ******Muymano River *****Mamuripi River ******Manuripe River ****

Heath River The Heath River, which runs from the Andes surrounding Lake Titicaca northwards to the Madre de Dios River, marks the natural border between Peru and Bolivia. The Eja Sonene indigenous community lives in the area. They are an ethnic group belongi ...

****

Tambopata River The Tambopata River is a river in southeastern Peru and northwestern Bolivia. Most of the Tambopata is in the Madre de Dios and Puno regions in Peru, but the upper parts of the river forms the border between Peru and Bolivia, and its origin is in ...

, 402 km **** Río de Las Piedras or Tacuatimanu, 621 km *****Pariamanu River ****

Inambari River The Inambari River in southeastern Peru flows from the Cordillera Apolobamba in the Andes to the Madre de Dios River. The river spans the Puno Puno ( Aymara and ) is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is t ...

, 437 km **** Manú River **

Purús River The Purus River (Portuguese: ''Rio Purus''; Spanish: ''Río Purús'') is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean annual discharge is . The river shares its name with the Alto Purús National Park a ...

, 483 km ***

Acre River The Acre River (called Aquiry in the local Iñapari language; locally, ''Rio Acre'') is a long river in central South America. Course The river is born in Peru, and runs North-Eastwards, forming part of the border between Peru and Brazil and then ...

***

Iaco River Iaco River is a river of Acre and Amazonas states in western Brazil. See also * List of rivers of Acre *List of rivers of Amazonas (Brazilian state) A list of rivers in Amazonas ( Brazilian state). The list is arranged by drainage basin, w ...

or Yaco ***

Chandless River Chandless River is a river of Peru and the Acre state in western Brazil, named after the British explorer William Chandless. It is a tributary of the Purus River The river originates in Peru. After crossing the border into Brazil it flows in a n ...

***Curanja River ***Alto Purús River **

Juruá River The Juruá River ( ; ) is a southern affluent river of the Amazon River west of the Purus River. The Juruá emerges from highlands in east-central Peru, then winds its way through lowlands in Brazil, sharing with this the bottom of the immense in ...

or Yurua ***Alto Yurua ** Putumayu ***Yaguas River ***Algodón River ***Campuya River ***San Miguel River ** Yavarí River ***Yavarí Mirim River ***Gálvez River **Atacuarí River **Pichana River **Apayacu River **

Napo River The Napo River () is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the east Andean volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi. The total length is . The river drains an area of ca 103,000 km2. The mean annual dis ...

***Mazán River ***Tampuyaku River ***

Curaray River The Curaray River (also called the Ewenguno River or Rio Curaray) is a river in eastern Ecuador and Peru. It is a tributary of the Napo River, which is part of the Amazon basin. The land along the river is home to several indigenous people groups ...

, 414 km ***

Aguarico River The Aguarico River (, meaning "rich water") is a river in northeastern Ecuador. It is the main river of the Sucumbíos province. In the last part of its course it marks the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border. It empties into the Napo River. It has a le ...

Nanay River The Nanay River is a river in northern Peru. It is a tributary of the Amazon River, merging into this river at the city of Iquitos. The lower part of the Nanay flows to the north and west of the city, while the Itaya River flows to the south a ...

***Pintuyaku River ****Chambira River **

Marañón River The Marañón River (, , ) is the principal or mainstem source of the Amazon River, arising about 160 km (100 miles) to the northeast of Lima, Peru, and flowing northwest across plateaus 3,650 m (12,000 feet) high, it runs through a deeply ero ...

***

Tigre River The Tigre River () is a Peruvian tributary of the Marañón River west of the Nanay River. It is navigable for from its confluence with the Marañón. It forms from the confluence of the Ecuadorian rivers Conambo and Pintoyacu at the Peruvian ...

, 598 km ****

Corrientes River The Corrientes River is a river in Ecuador and Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in th ...

, 483 km ****Tangarana River ***Samiria River *** Chambira River ***Urituyaku River ***

Huallaga River The Huallaga River is a tributary of the Marañón River, part of the Amazon Basin. Old names for this river include ''Guallaga'' and ''Rio de los Motilones''. The Huallaga is born on the slopes of the Andes in central Peru and joins the Marañó ...

****Paranapura River ****Shanusi River ****Chipurana River **** Mayo River ****Biabo River or Biavo ****Sisa River ****Wallapampa River *****Abiseo River ****Mishollo River ****Chuntayaq River ****Tulumayu River ****Monzón River ****Higueras River ***Nucuray River ***

Pastaza River The Pastaza River (, formerly known as the SumataraEnock, Charles Reginald (1914) ''Ecuador: its ancient and modern history, topography and natural resources, industries and social development'' Charles Scribner's sons, New Yorkpages 177–178 ) ...

****Huasaga River ***

Morona River The Morona River is a tributary to the Marañón River in Peru and Ecuador, and flows parallel to the Pastaza River and immediately to the west of it, and is the last stream of any importance on the northern side of the Amazon before reaching the ...

, 402 km *** Santiago River *** Nieva River *** Cenepa River **** Comaina River *** Chiriaco River or Imaza *** Chinchipe River *** Utcubamba River **** Quebrada Magunchal **** Quebrada Seca *** Chamaya River ****Wayllapampaa River ****Chotano River **** Quebrada San Antonio ***Llaucano River ***Crisnejas River or Crisnegas ****Cajamarca River ****Condebamba River ***Chusgon River ***San Miguel River ***Puccha River ***

Nupe River The Nupe is a small river in the Huánuco Region in Peru. It rises in the Cordillera Huayhuash and joins the Lauricocha River forming what is then called the Marañón River, one of the two largest upstream contributors to the Amazon River. The ...

*** Lauricocha River **

Ucayali River The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón river, Marañón close to Nauta city. The city of ...

***

Tapiche River The Tapiche River is a river in Peru. The 480-km Tapiche is a right tributary of the Ucayali River The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and bec ...

, 448 km *** Pacaya River ***Guanache River ***Cushabatay River ***Pisqui River ***Aguaytía River ***Tamaya River *** Pachitea River ****Pichis River **** Palcazu River ***** Pozuzo River ******

Huancabamba River The Huancabamba River ("Stony Plain" in the Quechuan languages, Quechua language) in the Pasco Region of Peru has its origin in the confluence of several small rivers near the town of Oxapampa: the Chontabamba, the Llamaquizú, and the Esperan ...

or Huayabamba ***Sheshea River or Chesheya or Chessea ***Cohengu River ***

Urubamba River The Urubamba River or Vilcamayo River (possibly from Quechua ''Willkamayu'', for "sacred river") is a river in Peru. Upstream it is called Vilcanota River (possibly from Aymara ''Willkanuta'', for "house of the sun"). Within the La Convención ...

****Inuya River **** Mishagua River ****Camisea River **** Yavero River or Paucartambo ****Ticumpinia River ****Cumpirusiato River ****Cushireni River ****Vilcanota River *** Tambo River ****

Perené River The Perené River () is a Peruvian river on the eastern slopes of the South American Andes. It is formed at the confluence of the Chanchamayo and Paucartambo Rivers, above the community of Perené, actually two pueblos of Santa Ana and Pampa ...

*****Pangoa River ******Mazamari River ******Satipo River *****Paucartambo River ***** Chanchamayu ******Tulumayu ****

Ene River The Ene River (; ) is a Peruvian river on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It is a headwater of the Amazon River. Geography Headwaters The Ene is formed at at the confluence of the Mantaro River and the Apurímac River, circa 400 m above ...

*****

Mantaro River The Mantaro River (, ) is a long river running through the central region of Peru. Its Quechua name means "great river". The word "Mantaro" may be a word originally from the Asháninka language, who live downstream along the Ene River. The Mantar ...

******Huarpa River *******Yucay River or Pongor ****** Ichu River or Huancavelica ******Occoro River ******Willka River ****** Cunas River *****

Apurímac River The Apurímac River ( ; , ; from Quechua ''apu'' 'chief' and ''rimaq'' 'the one who speaks, oracle', thus 'the chief oracle') rises from glacial meltwater of the ridge of the Mismi, a mountain in the Arequipa Province in the south-western mo ...

******Pampas River ******Pachachaka River ******Santo Tomás River ******Velille River

Altiplano

* Desaguadero River **Mauri River **

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

***Ilave River ****Huenque River ***Coata River ***Ramis River ****Azángaro River *****Carabaya River ****Ayaviri River ***Huancané River ***Suches River

Pacific Ocean

Zarumilla River The Zarumilla River is a river in South America that marks the border between Peru and Ecuador. It is named after the Peruvian town of Zarumilla. It is part of the Gulf of Guayaquil-Tumbes mangroves Sanctuary and its currents, sediments, and ti ...

Tumbes River The Tumbes River ( or Río Túmbez in Peru; Río Puyango in Ecuador), is a river in South America. The river's sources are located between Ecuadorian El Oro and Loja provinces. It is the border between El Oro and Loja, and afterwards the border ...

Chira River The Chira River or Rio Chira is a river (as well as a valley) in northern Peru whose mouth is 100 km north west of the provincial capital of Piura and 25 km north of the port of Paita. Its source is in the Ecuadorian Andes near the tow ...

Piura River The Piura River is a river in northern Peru. The river flows westward from the Andes to the Pacific Ocean and is susceptible to major flooding. Piura is the largest city along the river's course. Course The Piura River has its source in eastern ...

**Bigote River **Charanal River * Cascajal River * Olmos River * Motupe River ** La Leche River * Chancay River (Lambayeque) * Zaña River * Chamán River * Jequetepeque River * Chicama River *

Moche River The Moche River is one of the rivers of the Pacific Ocean slope, located in the northern coast of Peru, in La Libertad Region. On both sides of this river is the millenary Moche Valley. The Moche river goes through east to west the metropolita ...

* Virú River * Chao River *

Santa River The Santa River () is a river in the South American Andes mountain range in the Ancash Region of northwest central Peru. River course Lake Conococha, at an altitude of 4,050 m above sea level and at , is considered the headwaters of the Santa R ...

* Lacramarca River * Nepeña River *

Casma River The Casma River, which upstream is called Río Grande, is a river that crosses northern Casma province in the Ancash Region of Peru. It originates in the Black Mountain Range and drains into the Pacific Ocean. Major tributaries include the Sech ...

** Sechín River ** Grande River * Culebras River * Huarmey River * Fortaleza River * Pativilca River * Supe River * Huaura River * Chancay River (Huaral) *

Chillón River The Chillón River is a river located in western Peru. It originates in the glaciers of the Andes, and its mouth is located in the Pacific Ocean coast of the Callao Region. Its volume gets higher during the summer months (December to March). Th ...

Rímac River The Rímac River is located in western Peru and is the most important source of potable water for the Lima and Callao Metropolitan Area. It belongs to the Pacific Slope, into which it flows after bathing the cities of Lima and Callao, togethe ...

* Lurín River * Mala River * Omas River * Cañete River * Topara River * San Juan River * Pisco River *

Ica River The Ica is a 220 kilometer long river in Peru which flows south from highlands in Huancavelica Region to the Pacific Ocean through Ica Region and passing the region's capital, the city of Ica. The river is normally dry during much of the year ...

* Grande River or Nazca * Acarí River * Yauca River * Indio Muerto or Chala * Chaparra * Atico * Caravelí River *

Ocoña River The Ocoña River () is a river located in the Arequipa region in southern Peru. It helped form Peru's deep canyon walls. See also *List of rivers of Peru *List of rivers of the Americas by coastline This list of rivers of the Americas by coa ...

Camaná River Colca River (possibly from Quechua ''qullqa'' deposit) which downstream is called Majes and Camaná is a Peruvian river in the Arequipa Region that flows deep in the rugged Andes of southern Peru. It originates south-east of the village Janq'u La ...

Colca River Colca River (possibly from Quechua ''qullqa'' deposit) which downstream is called Majes and Camaná is a Peruvian river in the Arequipa Region that flows deep in the rugged Andes of southern Peru. It originates south-east of the village Janq'u La ...

* Vitor River **Sihuas River ** Quilca River or Chili * Tambo River **Corlaque River *

Osmore River Osmore River (also Moquegua, Ilo, or Tumilaca) system flows northeast to southwest in the Moquegua Region of southern coastal Peru. The river has its origin in the snow peaks of the Chuqi Ananta and Arundane mountains, at an elevation of above s ...

or Moquegua or Ilo :* Asana River * Locumba River * Sama River *

Caplina River The Caplina River (''Rio Caplina'') is a river in southern Peru. It runs through the city Tacna, after which it gets dry due to filtration, evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the Interface (chemistry), sur ...

Alphabetical list

* Amazon River *

*Bigote River *

* Cañete River * Chamán River * Chancay River (Lambayeque) * Chancay River (Huaral) *Charanal River * Chao River *

* Cenepa River * Chambira River *

* Chinchipe River *

* Comaina River * Cunas River * Desaguadero River *

* Fortaleza River *

* Huarmey River * Ilave River *

Javary River The Javary River, Javari River or Yavarí River (; ) is a tributary of the Amazon that forms the boundary between Brazil and Peru for more than . It is navigable by canoe for from above its mouth to its source in the Ucayali highlands, but o ...

* Ilo River * Jequetepeque River * La Leche River *

* Mala River *

* Manú River *

* Mayo River *

* Moquegua River * Motupe River *

* Nieva River *

* Palcazu River *

* Pisco River *

* Pozuzo River *

Putumayo River The Putumayo River or Içá River (, ) is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River, southwest of and parallel to the Japurá River. Course The Putumayo River forms part of Colombia's border with Ecuador, as well as most of the border with Per ...

* Quebrada Magunchal * Quebrada Seca * Quilca River *

* Pachitea River *

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

* Sechín River * Tambo River *

* Utcubamba River * Virú River * Yavarí River *

References

*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993. *,

GEOnet Names Server The GEOnet Names Server (GNS), sometimes also referred to in official documentation as Geographic Names Data or geonames in domain and email addresses, is a service that provides access to the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ...

External links

National Authority of WaterServicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del Perú
National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology
Instituto del Mar del Perú
Maritime Institute of Peru {{Peru lists *

Rivers A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside 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 its course if it ru ...