Papaloapan
Papaloapan is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 18.25°, -95.97°
About Papaloapan
The Papaloapan River (Spanish: Río Papaloapan) is one of the main rivers of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Its name comes from the Nahuatl papaloapan meaning "river of the butterflies".
In 1518 Juan de Grijalva's expedition spotted the river, naming it Río de Alvarado. The Papaloapan rises in the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca on the border between the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca. It is formed where the Santo Domingo River and the Valle Nacional River join to the southwest of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec in Oaxaca. The Tonto River is another major tributary.
The Papaloapan meanders for 122 km (76 mi) in a northeasterly direction through the coastal plain before draining into Alvarado Lagoon.
The river basin covers 46,517 km2 (17,960 sq mi), the second largest in Mexico, and contains 244 municipalities with a population of about 3.3 million people.
The cities of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec and Tlacotalpan (Veracruz) are situated on the banks of the Papaloapan.
In the past the Papaloapan river basin was subject to frequent flooding, with the damage sometimes compounded by cyclones.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Papaloapan River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Papaloapan: Key Facts
| Length | 122 km |
|---|---|
| Drainage basin | 46,560 km² |
| Mouth | Gulf of Mexico |
| Tributaries | Tonto River |
Facts from Wikidata Q583044 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Papaloapan: Quick Answers
- Where is Papaloapan?
- Papaloapan is located in Mexico, at 18.2533° N, 95.9735° W.
- Are there dams on the Papaloapan?
- No dam on the Papaloapan is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.