Pilcomayo River

Template:Short description Template:Infobox river Pilcomayo (in Hispanicized spelling)<ref>Template:GEOnet2</ref> (Quechua Pillkumayu or Pillku Mayu, pillku red, mayu river,<ref>Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe, Quechua-Castellano, Castellano Quechua, La Paz, 2007: mayu - s. Río. pillku - adj. Rojo (sínón.: Puka).</ref> "red river", Guarani Ysyry Araguay {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a river in central South America. At Template:Convert long,<ref name=varis>Template:Cite book</ref> it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay River. Its drainage basin is Template:Convert in area, and its mean discharge is Template:Convert.<ref name=varis/>

Along its course, the Pilcomayo silts up and splits into two main branches, North and South. After some distance, these branches rejoin to form the Lower Pilcomayo.<ref name=varis/>

The Pilcomayo rises in the foothills of the Andes mountain range in the Oruro Department in Bolivia, east of Lake Poopó. The Jach'a Juqhu River is considered the origin of the Pilcomayo.<ref>Jorge Molina Carpio, Daniel Espinoza Romero, Balance hídrico superficial de la cuenca alta del río Pilcomayo, La Paz 2005 (Spanish)</ref> Upstream the Jach'a Juqhu River successively receives the names Aguas Calientes and Kachi Mayu. From the confluence with the Chillawa (Chillahua), the river is called Pilcomayo.<ref>lib.utexas.edu Map showing Jach'a Juqhu River from the origin</ref><ref>Santiago de Huari Municipality: Template:Webarchive population data and map showing Jach'a Juqhu River</ref> From there, it flows in a southeasterly direction through Chuquisaca and Tarija departments, passes through the Argentine province of Formosa and the Gran Chaco plains of Paraguay, forming most of the border between these two countries before it joins the Paraguay River near Asunción. The Río Pilcomayo National Park is located on the Argentine side of the border. It also forms a short part of the boundary between Argentina and Bolivia, just prior to the Argentina–Bolivia–Paraguay tripoint.

Human settlement

The river basin is home to approximately 1.5 million people: one million in Bolivia, 300,000 in Argentina, and 200,000 in Paraguay.

The Nakotoi Indian Tribe resides in the southern region of the Pilcomayo, a region located along the river in central Paraguay.<ref name=Kerr116>Kerr, p. 116</ref> The aborigines of this tribe are descendants of the highly renowned Redskin Tribe.<ref name=Kerr116/> The Natokoi treated all neighbors as enemies, but none more so than the Tobas Tribe and the Nimká Tribe, their respective neighbors to the southwest and northeast.<ref name=Kerr116/> Guerrilla warfare has long existed between the tribes, isolating the tribe from direct intercourse with the European settlers in the late 19th century.<ref name=Kerr116/> Men of this tribe are generally tall and skinny, built like hunters or warriors, whereas women are short in size.<ref name=Kerr117>Kerr, p. 117</ref> The Natokoi dress in a rug, fastened around the waist-line.<ref name=Kerr117/>

Gallery

• A. Fiskare gå över Pilcomayo. Rio Pilcomayo, Bolivianska Chaco. Rio Pilcomayo, El Gran Chaco - SMVK - 004711.tif

  Local fishermen with fishing nets crossing Rio Pilcomayo 1908.

• In Bolívia.jpg

  Pilcomayo River as seen through Tarija Department, Bolivia.

• Riodelaplatabasinmap.png

  Map of the Rio de la Plata Basin.

• Puente Misión La Paz - Pozo Hondo Chaco Paraguay.jpg

  The Misión La Paz Bridge over the Pilcomayo River, between Pozo Hondo, Boquerón and Misión La Paz, Salta, (PY)-(AR) border.

• Rio Pilcomayo en el Aguarague.jpg

  The Pilcomayo River seen at the Aguaragüe National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area, in Bolivia

• 20170807 Bolivia 1322 sRGB (37949270772).jpg

  A 19th century-built footbridge over the Pilcomayo River as seen at Bolivia's Route 5, between Sucre and Potosí, Southern Bolivia.

• Valle Pilcomayo.jpg

  Pilcomayo Valley, near Villamontes, Bolivia.

• Riopilcomayoenpnriopilcomayo.jpg

  Pilcomayo River seen at the Río Pilcomayo National Park, Argentina

• Pilcomayo al Sur desde el puente San Ignacio.jpg

  Pilcomayo River, near Asunción.

See also

• List of rivers of Argentina
• List of rivers of Paraguay
• List of rivers of Bolivia
• Hito Esmeralda
• Oroncota, Yampara settlement and Inca fortress in the Pilcomayo River valley of Bolivia.
• Gran Chaco

Sources

• Kerr, Graham. A Naturalist in the Gran Chaco. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1950.
• Pilcomayo River. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 18, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/460371/Pilcomayo-River
• W. H. Strosnider, F. Llanos, R.W. Nairn: LEGACY OF NEARLY 500 YEARS OF MINING IN POTOSÍ, BOLIVIA: STREAM WATER QUALITY (pdf) - conference paper at the 2008 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation. New Opportunities to Apply Our Science, June 14–19, Richmond, VA.