Pilcomayo River

Pilcomayo River, stream in the northeastern part of Argentina, originating at 13,000 feet in the Andes of Bolivia, south of Sucre, and emptying into the Paraguay River after a 1,000-mile course. Located in an area of great aridity, the river is subject to abrupt seasonal changes: it varies from extreme shallowness in the winter to relatively high waters in the summer that convert some low-lying areas into vast swamps (Estero de Patiño). The river is considered the boundary between the northern and the central Chaco regions, and since 1876 it has served as the border between Argentina and Paraguay. There are no settlements of importance along the river, with the exception of Fuerte Ballivián and Luján, which thrive as centers for smuggling goods into Paraguay and as service centers for scattered cattle ranches. Today the area is home to approximately 1.5 million Bolivians, Argentineans, and Paraguayans. In 2005 a large portion of the watershed was clogged due to pollution and overuse by humans. That year, the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay united, and with financial backing from the European Union, began to study the ecosystem of the watershed and to design a plan to save it.

See alsoArgentina, Geography; Paraguay, Geography; Paraguay River.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Juan Sosa E., El Pilcomayo como límite argentino-paraguayo (Buenos Aires, 1939).

Additional Bibliography

Díaz, José Antonio. Ibarreta, el último explorador: Tragedia y muerte en su expedición por el río Pilcomayo. Madrid: Miraguano Ediciones, 2004.

Gordillo, Gastón. El río y la frontera: Movilizaciones aborigenes, obras públicas y MERCOSUR en el Pilcomayo. Buenos Aires: Editorial Biblos, 2002.

Vernón, Luis. Rio rebelde y contumaz: Las exploraciones del Pilcomayo. Asunción, Paraguay: Embajada Francesa en el Paraguay, 2002.

                                   CÉsar N. Caviedes