Rio Grande (Portuguese for great river) is a river in south-central Brazil. It rises in the Mantiqueira Mountains in the state of Minas Gerais and descends inland, west-northwestward. Its lower course marks a portion of the Minas Gerais-São Paulo border.
At the Mato Grosso do Sul state border, after a course of 1,090 km (677 mi), it joins the Paranaíba River to form the Upper Paraná River.
Major tributaries of the Rio Grande are:
Rio Aiuruoca, whose source is in Itamonte;
Rio das Mortes, whose source lies between Barbacena and Senhora dos Remédios;
Rio Jacaré, whose source is in the Serra do Galba;
Rio Sapucaí, whose source is in the Mantiqueira Mountains in São Paulo;
Rio Pardo, whose source is in Ipuiúna.
The Rio Grande is interrupted by several dams and reservoirs; in the upper Grande the river forms Furnas Dam, then Peixotos Dam, and downstream, Luiz Barreto Dam, Jaguara Dam, Volta Grande Dam, Marimbondo Dam and Água Vermelha Dam.
