São Francisco River

Course of the Rio São Francisco

Canyon on the Rio São Francisco

The São Francisco is a 3199 km long river or stream in South America. It rises in eastern Brazil in the south of the state of Minas Gerais in the Serra da Canastra and flows through the states of Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco and Alagoas in the direction of the South Atlantic.

From its source the São Francisco flows mainly in a northerly direction through two very large reservoirs: Três Marias Reservoir and much farther north Sobradinho Reservoir, then along the border of Bahia and Pernambuco by the Itaparica reservoir. Then he bends slightly to the southeast to flow as boundary flow of small Brazilian states of Sergipe and Alagoas in the South Atlantic.

The São Francisco is navigable in its middle reaches to 1368 km in length. Near the border with the State of Bahia are the rapids of Pirapora and there, where the river breaks through the coastal mountains, the Paulo Afonso Falls ( Cachoeira de Paulo Afonso ) with the Paulo Afonso Hydroelectric Complex and the hydroelectric plant Xingó. Thus, the underflow is not navigable. The catchment area of the river comprises 617,812 km ².

Reconciliation of the river

The Brazilian federal government is currently building two channel systems, should be passed through the water from the São Francisco River to the north and northeast, to improve the water supply in the south of drought-stricken northeastern Brazil. The completion of this Projeto São Francisco is planned for 2015. The project has long been controversial; become known in Germany is the hunger strike of the Bishop of Barra, Dom Luiz free CappioArchive, in 2007.