Editing Xingu River

{{Short description|Tributary river of the Amazon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Xingu River
| name_native        = {{native name|txu|Byti}}
| name_native_lang   = 
| name_other         = {{native name|pt|Rio Xingu}} 
| name_etymology     = 
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Rio Xingu.jpg
| image_size         = 250
| image_caption      = Xingu River from space, downstream section.
| map                = Xingurivermap.png
| map_size           = 250
| map_caption        = Map of the [[Amazon Basin]] with the Xingu River highlighted
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_map_size   = 250
| pushpin_map_caption= 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[Brazil]]
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| subdivision_type5  = 
| subdivision_name5  = 
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{cvt|1,640|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=fao>{{cite book |last1=Ziesler |first1=R. |last2=Ardizzone |first2=G.D. |title=The Inland waters of Latin America |year=1979 |chapter-url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ad770b/AD770B06.htm |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization|Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]] |isbn=92-5-000780-9 |chapter=Amazon River System |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021061745/http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ad770b/AD770B06.htm |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> 
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = 
| discharge1_location=Near mouth, [[Pará State]] 
| discharge1_min     = 
| discharge1_avg     =(Period: 1973–1990){{cvt|9,680|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="HYDROLOGIE DU BASSIN AMAZONIEN">{{cite book|url=https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2022-02/010010558.pdf|title=HYDROLOGIE DU BASSIN AMAZONIEN|year=1997|isbn=2-7011-1532-9|last1=Théry |first1=Hervé |last2=Maurence |first2=Pascale }}</ref>
(Period: 1971–2000){{cvt|10,022.6|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref> 
| discharge1_max     = 
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = [[Culuene River|Culuene]] and [[Sete de Setembro River|Sete de Setembro]] confluence
| source1_location   = [[Mato Grosso]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|12|55|29.7264|S|52|49|33.636|W}}
| source1_elevation  = {{cvt|297|m|abbr=on}}
| source2=[[Sete de Setembro River|Sete de Setembro]]
| source2_location=[[Mato Grosso]]
| source2_coordinates={{coord|14|10|13.6956|S|52|45|47.6496|W}}
| source2_elevation={{cvt|477|m|abbr=on}}
| source3=[[Culuene River|Culuene]]
| source3_location=[[Mato Grosso]]
| source3_coordinates={{coord|14|46|50.0412|S|54|31|7.5324|W}}
| source3_elevation={{cvt|753|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = [[Amazon River]]
| mouth_location     = 
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|1|31|37.8012|S|51|52|8.9616|W}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{cvt|0|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        = [[Amazon River|Amazon]] → [[Atlantic Ocean]]
| river_system       = [[Amazon River|Amazon]]
| basin_size         = {{cvt|520,292|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}
{{cvt|513,313.5|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref>
| tributaries_left   = [[Culuene River|Culuene]], [[Curisevo River|Curisevo]], [[Tamitatoale River|Tamitatoale]], [[Ronuro River|Ronuro]], [[Manissauá-Miçu River|Manissauá-Miçu]], [[Iriri River|Iriri]], [[Pardo River (Xingu)|Pardo]], [[Jaraucu River|Jaraucu]]
| tributaries_right  =[[Sete de Setembro River|Sete de Setembro]], [[Suia-Miçu River|Suia-Miçu]], [[Liberdade River (Xingu River tributary)|Liberdade]], [[Fresco River|Fresco]], [[Bacaja River|Bacaja]], [[Comandante Fontoura River]] 
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
| extra              = 
|discharge2_location=[[Altamira, Pará|Altamira]], [[Pará State]] (Basin size: {{convert|449,493|km2|abbr=on}}
|discharge2_avg=(Period: 1971–2000){{cvt|8,345.8|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref> (Period: 1970–1996){{cvt|8,665|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="auto1">{{cite CiteSeerX|citeseerx=10.1.1.549.3854|title=Long-term simulations of discharge and floods in the Amazon Basin|last1=Michael|first1=T. Coe|last2=Marcos|first2=Heil Costa|last3=Aurélie|first3=Botta|last4=Charon|first4=Birkett|date=23 Aug 2002}}</ref>
|discharge3_location=Belo Horizonte, [[Pará State]] (Basin size: {{cvt|277,265|km2|abbr=on}}
|discharge3_avg=(Period: 1971–2000){{cvt|5,234.1|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref>
(Period: 1970–1996){{cvt|5,324|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="auto1"/>
|discharge4_location=[[São Félix do Xingu]], [[Pará State]] (Basin size: {{convert|250,626|km2|abbr=on}}
|discharge4_avg=(Period: 1971–2000){{cvt|4,660.3|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref>
(Period: 1970–1996){{cvt|4,627|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="auto1"/>}}
The '''Xingu River''' ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|iː|ŋ|ˈ|ɡ|uː}} {{respell|sheeng|GOO}}; {{langx|pt|Rio Xingu}} {{IPA|pt-BR|ˈʁi.u ʃĩˈɡu|}}; {{langx|txu|label=[[Kayapó language|Mẽbêngôkre]]|Byti}} {{IPA|txu|bɯˈti|}}<ref name="Passos-2018">{{cite thesis|last=Passos |first=João Lucas Moraes |date=2018 |title=Caminhos mẽbêngôkre: andando, nomeando, sentando sobre a terra |type=Ph.D. dissertation |location=Brasília |publisher=Universidade de Brasília}}</ref>{{rp|73}}) is a {{cvt|1,640|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=fao/> river in north [[Brazil]]. It is a southeast tributary of the [[Amazon River]] and one of the largest [[Clearwater river (river type)|clearwater river]]s in the [[Amazon basin]],<ref>{{cite news | author=Perez, M.S. | url=https://www.americanscientist.org/article/where-the-xingu-bends-and-will-soon-break | title=Where the Xingu Bends and Will Soon Break | publisher=American Scientist | access-date=1 October 2017 }}</ref> accounting for about 5% of its water.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://amazonwaters.org/waters/flows-and-floods/ | title=Waters | publisher=Amazon Waters | access-date=10 October 2017 | archive-date=29 June 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629130803/http://amazonwaters.org/waters/flows-and-floods/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

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==Description and history==
The first Indigenous Park in Brazil was created in the river basin by the Brazilian government in the early 1960s. This park marks the first indigenous territory recognized by the Brazilian government and it was the world's largest indigenous preserve on the date of its creation. Currently, fourteen tribes live within [[Xingu Indigenous Park]], surviving on natural resources and extracting from the river most of what they need for food and water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xingu - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil |url=https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/Povo:Xingu |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=pib.socioambiental.org}}</ref>

The Brazilian government built the [[Belo Monte Dam]] on the Lower Xingu, which began operations in 2019 and is the world's fifth-largest hydroelectric dam. Construction of this dam was under legal challenge by environment and indigenous groups, who assert the dam would have negative environmental and social impacts along with reducing the flow by up to 80% along a {{Convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on|-1}} stretch known as the Volta Grande ("Big Bend").<ref name=rainfoun>{{cite web|title=Summary and History of the Belo Monte Dam: Rainforest Foundation |url=http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/files/Belo%20Monte%20Factsheet.pdf |publisher=Summary and History of the Belo Monte Dam: Rainforest Foundation |access-date=9 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106172656/http://rainforestfoundationuk.org/files/Belo%20Monte%20Factsheet.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2011 }}</ref> The river flow in this stretch is highly complex and includes major sections of [[rapids]].<ref name=Fitzgerald2018>{{Cite journal |author1=Fitzgerald |author2=Perez | author3=Sousa |author4=Gonçalves |author5=Py-Daniel |author6=Lujan |author7=Zuanon |author8=Winemiller |author9=Lundberg |date=2018 |title=Diversity and community structure of rapids-dwelling fishes of the Xingu River: Implications for conservation amid large-scale hydroelectric development | journal=Biological Conservation |volume=222 | pages=104–112 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2018.04.002 |s2cid=53625155 |doi-access=free }}</ref> More than 450 fish species have been documented in the Xingu River Basin and it is estimated that the total is around 600 fish species, including many [[endemics]].<ref name=":0">Camargo, M., T. Giarrizzo and V. Isaac (2004). ''Review of the geographic distribution of fish fauna in the Xingu River Basin, Brazil.'' [[Ecotropica]] 10: 123–147</ref> At least 193 fish species living in rapids are known from the lower Xingu,<ref name=Fitzgerald2018/> and at least 26 of these are endemic.<ref name=Hyland/> From 2008 to 2018 alone, 24 new fish species have been described from the river.<ref name=Fitzgerald2018/><ref name=Hyland>Hyland, T: ''[http://exelmagazine.org/article/race-against-time/ Race against time.]'' Retrieved 4 June 2014.</ref><ref name=Sousa2018>{{cite journal| author1=Sousa, L.M. | author2=M.S. Chaves | author3=A. Akama | author4=J. Zuanon | author5=M.H. Sabaj | year=2018 | title=Platydoras birindellii, new species of striped raphael catfish (Siluriformes: Doradidae) from the Xingu Basin, Brazil | journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | volume=166 | issue=1 | pages=1–13 | doi=10.1635/053.166.0106 | s2cid=90673235 }}</ref> Many species are seriously threatened by the dam, which will significantly alter the flow in the Volta Grande rapids.<ref name=Fitzgerald2018/><ref>Ekström, J. (23 December 2007) ''[http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=360 Hydroelectric dam constructions in Amazonas.]'' Retrieved 10 February 2013.</ref><ref>Survival International (2009). ''[http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/266/Experts_Panel_BeloMonte_summary_oct2009.pdf Experts Panel Assesses Belo Monte Dam Viability].'' Retrieved 10 February 2013.</ref>

In the Upper Xingu region was a highly self-organized [[pre-Columbian]] anthropogenic landscape, including deposits of fertile agricultural [[terra preta]], black soil in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], with a network of roads and polities each of which covered about 250 square kilometers.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Heckenberger|first=Michael J.|author2=J. Christian Russell |author3=Carlos Fausto |author4=Joshua R. Toney |author5=Morgan J. Schmidt |author6=Edithe Pereira |author7=Bruna Franchetto |author8=Afukaka Kuikuro |date=29 September 2008|title=Pre-Columbian Urbanism, Anthropogenic Landscapes, and the Future of the Amazon|journal=Science|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|volume=321|issue=5893|pages=1214–1217|doi=10.1126/science.1159769|pmid=18755979|s2cid=41438038}}</ref>

Near the source of Xingu River is [[Culuene River]], a {{Convert|600|km}} tributary.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Junk |first1=Wolfgang J. |title=The Central Amazon Floodplain: Ecology of a Pulsing System |date=1997 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |location=Plön, Germany |isbn=978-3-64208214-6}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
*The name is the title of a humorous [[Edith Wharton]] [[short story]] from 1911.
*"Xingu" is the title of a song on ''[[Waterfall Cities]]'', a 1999 album by [[Ozric Tentacles]].
*The river is also honoured in the album ''[[Aguas da Amazonia]]''.
*A [[Xingu (beer)|beer]] produced near the river is sold in the international market under the name "Xingu".
*In the novel ''[[Relic (Preston and Child novel)|Relic]]'' by [[Douglas Preston]] and [[Lincoln Child]], the Xingu River is the location of the doomed Whittlesey/Maxwell expedition responsible for discovering evidence of the lost Kothoga tribe and their savage god Mbwun.
*''[[Xingu (film)|Xingu]]'' is a 2011 Brazilian movie, directed by Brazilian [[Film director|film-maker]] [[Cao Hamburger]]. The movie tells the story of the [[Villas-Bôas brothers]] 1943 expedition to the region, which led to the creation of the indigenous reserve twenty years later.
*The [[Embraer Xingu]] is a design of twin-engine airplane manufactured in the 1970s by Brazilian company [Embraer]

==See also==
*[[Percy Fawcett]]
*[[Aloysius Pendergast]]
*[[Xingu Indigenous Park]]
*[[Xingu peoples]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Cowell, Adrian. 1973. ''The Tribe that Hides from Man''. The Bodely Head, London.
* ''Original text from 1911 [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''

==Further reading==
*Heinsdijk, Dammis, and Ricardo Lemos Fróes. ''Description of Forest-Types on "Terra Firme" between the Rio Tapajós and the Rio Xingú in the Amazon Valley''. 1956.
*Sipes, Ernest "Brazilian Indians: what FUNAI Won't Tell YOU". 2002.
*[http://www.brazzillog.com/2003/html/news/articles/aug03/p118aug03.htm Brazilian Indians: What FUNAI Won't Tell You]

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Xingu}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tributaries of the Amazon River]]
[[Category:Rivers of Mato Grosso]]
[[Category:Rivers of Pará]]
[[Category:Rivers of Xingu Indigenous Park]]