Itonomas River

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The Río Itonomas (also: Itonamas ) is a river in the lowlands of the South American landlocked country like Bolivia. The river's name is derived from the people of the Itonama who have had to pre-Hispanic times in the region of present-day town of Magdalena their settlement area

The Río Itonomas has a length of 1,493 km. In this length information is taken into account that the river in its entire course - often as usual in Bolivia - carries different names from the source to the mouth. The river is called in its upper reaches Río San Julian, in the middle reaches of Río San Pablo and in the lower reaches of Río Itonomas; also the name of San Miguel for parts of the section of the river is in use.

Río San Julián

The Río San Julián as the headwaters of the Río Itonomas rises at an altitude of 252 m in the district ( bolivian: Municipio) San José de Chiquitos in the province of Chiquitos in the department of Santa Cruz. The origin of the river is located in the Laguna Concepción, a 75 km north- west of the town of San José de Chiquitos altitude lake with seasonally high water fluctuations. About six kilometers northeast below the lake, the outflow of the Laguna Concepción united with the waters of the Río Quimome and then flows in a northwesterly direction largely as Río San Julián further.

In years with relatively high rainfall advent of Río Itonomas is still connected via the Río Quimome in addition to the large wetland in the Bañados de Izozog in which the 500km Rio Parapeti seeps, whose origins lie in the southern Bolivian Altiplano.

In the first 350 km of Río Itonomas / Río San Julián crosses the savannah region of Chiquitanía that has been west of the river opened up intensive agriculture in recent decades, while the hill country is east of the river only sparsely populated and hardly developed.

After the first 72 km of the Río San Julián enters the municipality of San Miguel in the province of José Miguel de Velasco, one and four miles later, in the municipality of Cuatro Cañadas, and on the following 89 km mark of the river, the border between the two counties. At km 109 the river reaches in a chain of three consecutive lakes, Laguna San Joaquin has a length of four and a maximum width of 3 km and lies at an altitude of 248 m. Fifteen kilometers further downstream flows from the left coming south-west of the Río Tunas in the Río San Julián.

At kilometer 165 of the flow leaves the municipality of San Miguel and forms on the following 121 km to the mouth of the Rio Norte Zopocoz the border between the municipality of San Antonio de Lomerío and the municipality of Concepcion in the province Ñuflo de Chávez. The river then runs through the municipality of Concepcion in a northwesterly direction and occurs after 335 km in the municipality of San Julián, where the river reaches at km 407 San Ramon, the first urban settlement.

At kilometer 458, the river enters the municipality of El Puente and the province Guarayos and reached the town of El Puente after a total of 540 km of the river. The Río San Julián crosses the municipality in north-west direction and reaches a few kilometers north-west of Laguna Socorro the border to the municipality Ascención de Guarayos and after a total of 681 kilometers of the village of San Pablo de Guarayos that gives the river on the following 440 km its name.

Río San Pablo

The Río San Pablo San Pablo de Guarayos leaves in a westerly direction and still is fourteen kilometers, the border between the Municipalities El Puente and Ascención before he first enters at kilometer 695 in the Beni Department. On the following 292 kilometers of the Río San Pablo marks the boundary between the two departments of Santa Cruz and Beni, the municipality in the province Ascención Guarayos on the eastern side of the river, and the municipality of San Andrés in the province Marbán on the western side. In this way, through the plane of the Llanos de Guarayos the Río San Pablo the towns of Santa María de Guarayos happens ( 747 km ) on the eastern side of the river and Puente San Pablo ( 892 km ) on the western side of the river.

After a total of 987 kilometers of the river leaves the department of Santa Cruz, at the mouth of the Río Negro de Caimanes in the Río San Pablo and now crosses the municipality of San Javier in the province of Cercado in a northerly direction. After a further 96 kilometers of the river reaches the municipality in the province Huacaraje Iténez to final adoption in accordance with a further 41 km up the name Río Itonomas where discharges from the left rather insignificant tributary of the Río San Luis.

Río Itonomas (in the narrow sense)

The remaining 371 km of its course to the mouth of the Río Iténez the river in the province Iténez crosses the Moxos level (Spanish: Llanos de Moxos ), a more than 100,000 km ² flood savannah in the Beni lowlands. The only large town in this region is the city of the same name in the municipality of Magdalena Magdalena, 225 kilometers off the mouth of the Itonomas. Important tributaries of the Río Itonomas are Lopez, the Coming of the city Huacaraje happened from the east and seventeen kilometers downstream flows into the Itonomas; and the Río Machupo, which unites for twenty miles from the mouth of the Río Iténez with the Río Itonomas.

The Río Itonomas in its entire length of 1493 kilometers, is a river with strong meander formation, both in the upper reaches, in the middle reaches and the lower reaches it is characterized by an infinite variety of meanders and oxbow lakes. This fact can already conclude that the mouth of the river is only about 650 km away from its origin in the Laguna Concepción and the total gradient along the entire route is only 120 meters.