Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls (Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu [kataˈɾatɐz du iɡwaˈsu]; Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú [kataˈɾataz ðel iɣwaˈsu]; Guarani: Chororo Yguasu [ɕoɾoɾo ɨɣʷasu]) are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River starts at the city of Curitiba and runs for the most part of the course in Brazil and at the end at the border of Brazil and Argentina.

 

Toponymy

Their name comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y  (water) and ûasú (big).Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of the falls on the Argentine side is named. The falls were rediscovered by Boselli at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentine falls is named after him.

Tourism

Most visitors reach the falls from the Argentine side through the city of Puerto Iguazú. Brazil and Paraguay require citizens of some countries entering from Argentina to obtain visas, which is time-consuming. For example, North American visitors to Argentina crossing to see the falls from the Brazilian side should obtain one from a home-country Brazilian Consulate prior to departure, but may request a visa in person at the Brazilian consulate in the Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú.

Geography

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers of the Iguazu River. Some of the individual falls are up to 82 meters in height, though the majority are about 64 meters. The Devil's Throat, a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. The Argentine side comprises three sections: the upper falls, the lower falls, and the Devil's Throat.

Two-thirds of the falls are within Argentine territory. About 900 meters of the 2.7-kilometer length does not have water flowing over it. The edge of the basalt cap recedes by 3 mm (0.1 in) per year. The water of the lower Iguazu collects in a canyon that drains in the Paraná River, a short distance downstream from the Itaipu Dam. The junction of the water flows marks the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. There are points in the cities of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, which have access to the Iguazu River where the borders of all three countries can be seen, a popular tourist attraction for visitors to the three cities.