This is the Río de la Plata, the widest in the world

The Río de la Plata is born from the union between the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, at its mouth it has an extension that reaches up to 230 km. Among geographers there is no clear consensus on whether a river should be demonized as well as an estuary; some consider it a marginalized sea or a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean.

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The Río de la Plata, considered a river by the nations of Uruguay and Argentina, but known as an estuary in much of the rest of the world, it passes through both countries, as well as Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

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It was explored by western culture in 1516, when the commander of the Spanish crew Juan Díaz de Solis crossed the body of water with the aim of finding a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. He was killed by the native Indians of the region.

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It has a basin area of ​​4,144,000 km² and a length of 325 kilometers. It is the second largest basin in South America, only surpassed by that of the Amazon River, which occupies the position as the most extensive, mighty river and with the greatest amount of water in the world.

In addition to being considered the widest river in the world, it is also known as one of the most polluted.

The expansion of urban areas, sewage waste, the loss of native vegetation and fauna in the region, deforestation, pollution, mining, population growth and climate change have generated serious effects on the natural integrity of the Rio de the Silver.

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Pollution is more severe on the Argentine side; to such an extent that the Government has prohibited people from bathing in the cities of Buenos Aires, Vicente López, San Isidro and Avellaneda.

Santiago Andres Venera Salazar
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME

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