One of North America's longest rivers, forming the whole Texas-Mexico border.
Length
3,057 km
Source
San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Mouth
Gulf of Mexico
Continent
North America
Countries
United States & Mexico
Did you know?
Known as the Río Bravo in Mexico, it forms about 2,000 km of international border between two countries.
Little-known fact
In dry years so much water is drawn off that the Rio Grande sometimes fails to reach the Gulf of Mexico at all.
Highlights
- Forms the Texas-Mexico border
- Called Río Bravo in Mexico
- Sometimes fails to reach the sea
Life in the Rio Grande
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
North American beaver
Nature’s engineer: its dams create wetlands that reshape whole river valleys.
Common snapping turtle
An armoured, prehistoric-looking turtle with a powerful beak that haunts the muddy beds of North American waters.
Waterbirds
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Water plants & reeds
Cattail (bulrush)
The brown sausage-headed reed of marshy shallows, edible from root to pollen.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here