Rivers in South America Ranked by Drainage basin area

Name: Rivers in South America Ranked by Drainage basin area
Creator: Wikidata
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Rivers recorded in Wikidata, ranked by Drainage basin. Figures for long rivers vary between sources, depending on where the source and mouth are measured. Only items Wikidata places in South America (directly or through their country) are included. Source: Wikidata (CC0 1.0 (public domain)).

Summary

Amazon River ranks #1 with 7.05 million km². That is 1.7 times Río de la Plata in second place (4.14 million km²). The top five are Amazon River, Río de la Plata, Paraná River, Solimões and Madeira River. The median across all 50 is 260,000 km²; Huallaga River is last at 95,000 km².

#1: Amazon River · 7.05 million km²
Median: 260,000 km²
Coverage: 50 rivers in South America
Data year: As recorded in Wikidata
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: Drainage basin (km²). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Amazon River 7.05 million; 2. Río de la Plata 4.14 million; 3. Paraná River 2.58 million; 4. Solimões 2.2 million; 5. Madeira River 1.42 million; 6. Paraguay River 1.14 million; 7. Orinoco River 989,000; 8. Beni River 850,000; 9. Tocantins River 770,000; 10. Rio Negro 720,114.

Full ranking

Rivers in South America Ranked by Drainage basin area
Rank	River	Location	Drainage basin (km²)
1	Amazon River	Brazil, Peru	7,050,000
2	Río de la Plata	Uruguay, Argentina	4,144,000
3	Paraná River	Brazil, Argentina	2,582,672
4	Solimões	Brazil	2,200,000
5	Madeira River	Brazil, Bolivia	1,420,000
6	Paraguay River	Brazil, Argentina	1,135,624
7	Orinoco River	Venezuela, RB, Colombia	989,000
8	Beni River	Bolivia	850,000
9	Tocantins River	Brazil	770,000
10	Rio Negro	Brazil, Venezuela, RB	720,114
11	São Francisco River	Brazil	641,000
12	Mamoré River	Brazil, Bolivia	595,000
13	Xingu River	Brazil	513,000
14	Tapajós River	Brazil	487,000
15	Ucayali River	Peru	375,000
16	Araguaia River	Brazil	370,000
17	Uruguay River	Uruguay, Brazil	365,000
18	Purus River	Brazil	365,000
19	Marañón River	Peru	350,000
20	Colorado River	Argentina	350,000
21	Parnaíba River	Brazil	344,112
22	Japurá River	Brazil, Colombia	282,000
23	Pilcomayo River	Argentina, Paraguay	270,000
24	Guaporé River	Brazil, Bolivia	266,460
25	Magdalena River	Colombia	260,000
26	Desaguadero River	Argentina	260,000
27	Juruá River	Brazil, Peru	224,000
28	Branco River	Brazil	195,000
29	Juruena River	Brazil	190,940
30	Salado River	Argentina	170,000
31	Grande River	Brazil	170,000
32	Essequibo River	Venezuela, RB, Guyana	155,000
33	Tietê River	Brazil	150,000
34	Apure River	Venezuela, RB	147,000
35	Aripuanã River	Brazil	146,257
36	Teles Pires River	Brazil	141,442
37	Guaviare River	Colombia	140,000
38	Tambo River	Peru	135,000
39	Bermejo	Argentina, Bolivia	133,000
40	Río Negro	Argentina	132,275
41	Iriri River	Brazil	130,000
42	Apurímac River	Peru	125,000
43	Itonomas River	Bolivia	123,853
44	Putumayo River	Ecuador, Brazil	123,000
45	Napo River	Peru, Ecuador	115,000
46	Madre de Dios River	Peru, Bolivia	110,000
47	Ene River	Peru	106,150
48	Caroní River	Venezuela, RB	97,000
49	San Jorge River	Colombia	96,500
50	Huallaga River	Peru	95,000