Xingu River

The Xingu runs north through the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Pará before emptying into the Amazon's lower reaches in northern Brazil. It's one of the Amazon basin's major clearwater tributaries, known for its rapids and waterfalls along the middle course.

Belo Monte, built on the Xingu's Volta Grande bend, is one of the world's largest hydroelectric dams by installed capacity at roughly 11,000 megawatts. It dramatically reduced flow along the Volta Grande, displacing Indigenous and riverine communities and disrupting fisheries downstream of Altamira.

The basin includes the Xingu Indigenous Park, created in 1961 in Mato Grosso through the efforts of the Villas Bôas brothers, sheltering over a dozen distinct Indigenous peoples. The park is one of Brazil's most important and long-standing Indigenous territories.

Only sections of it. The river's clearwater rapids and the Volta Grande's cascades block continuous navigation, so expeditions typically run selected stretches while the lower river is navigable near its confluence with the Amazon. The clear water and rapids make it a noted destination for river expeditions, best arranged with local operators out of cities like Altamira.