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Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls
Iguacu-004.jpg
View of Iguazu Falls
Location Argentina: Misiones Province Brazil: Paraná State
Coordinates 25°41′12″S 54°26′41″W / 25.68667°S 54.44472°W / -25.68667; -54.44472Coordinates: 25°41′12″S 54°26′41″W / 25.68667°S 54.44472°W / -25.68667; -54.44472
Type Cataract
Total height 60–82 metres (197–269 ft)
Number of drops 275
Longest drop 82 metres (269 ft)
Total width 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi)
Watercourse Iguazu River
Average
flow rate
1,756 m3/s (62,010 cu ft/s)

The Iguazu Falls, Iguazú Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls (Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú [kataˈɾatas ðel iɣwaˈsu]; Guarani: Chororo Yguasu [ɕoɾoɾo ɨɣʷasu]; Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu [kataˈɾatɐʒ du iɡwaˈsu]) are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. They are the largest waterfalls system in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the city of Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil.

The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "y" [ɨ], meaning "water", and "ûasú "[waˈsu], meaning "big". Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.


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