Iguaçu Falls

Iguaçu Falls

Situation and Characteristics

Just before the Rio Iguaçu, here 4km/2.5mi wide, flows into the Rio Paraná on the frontier between Brazil and Argentina it narrows for just under 100m/110yds and then forms a semicircle of 247 falls thundering down into the gorge below. Some of the falls are over 100m/330ft high.

This magnificent spectacle can be observed from a helicopter or from a 950m/1000yd long path running round the semicircle of falls. There are a number of viewpoints offering impressive views of the surging water. A footbridge leads over the river to the Garganta do Diabo ("Devil's Jaws"), one of the most massive of the falls.

The falls can be viewed from both the Brazilian and