Papaloapan River

Map of the Río Papaloapan and its catchment area

Río Papaloapan

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The officially only 354 km long Río Papaloapan is - together with its headwaters on the 900- km long and -. Measured by the amount of water carried the third largest river in Mexico

Geography

The main source of the river Río Papaloapan, the Rio Santo Domingo, rises in the mountains of Oaxaca; first it flows in a northwesterly direction, then later to the northeast. Only south of Tuxtepec - in only about 90 m height above sea level. inst - he joins the Río Valle Nacional - from there bears the name of the river Río Papaloapan, which in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, literally means ' butterfly river ' ( Papalotl =' Butterfly ', apan =' river '). It flows from there north-east and ends in the state of Veracruz, first in the Laguna Alvarado and from there into the Gulf of Mexico.

Economy

The riparian zones of the Río Papaloapan River and its tributaries, and later also the hinterland, were cut down for centuries. Meanwhile, the landscape is dominated by sugar cane and corn fields and cattle pastures. For energy and water regulation of repeatedly vast areas overflowing river were built on the Rio Tonto and the Río Santo Domingo reservoirs. The construction of fish farms is planned.

Attractions

Due to frequent flooding, there was no pre-Columbian settlements along the river. The Spanish founded the achievable with sailing ships port city Tlacotalpan that - was built in a mixture of colonial and Caribbean style elements in stone - after a devastating fire in 1788. The city has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998.

Pollution

By fertilizers, pesticides and human waste water ( aguas negras ) arrive already in the headwaters of the Río Santo Domingo considerable amounts of poison into the river; in the lower reaches of industrial wastewater and considerable amounts are added to plastic waste.