page_title: São Francisco River
section_title: Sections
hierarchical_section_title: São Francisco River / Sections
caption_attribution_description: Português: Rio Sao Francisco próximo a Paulo Afonso divisa BAHIA-ALAGOAS.jpg
context_page_description: The São Francisco River or Rio São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of 2,914 kilometres, it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil. It used to be known as the Opara by the indigenous people before colonisation, and is today also known as Velho Chico.
  The São Francisco originates in the Canastra mountain range in the central-western part of the state of Minas Gerais. It runs generally north in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, behind the coastal range, draining an area of over 630,000 square kilometres, before turning east to form the border between Bahia on the right bank and the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas on the left one. After that, it forms the boundary between the states of Alagoas and Sergipe and washes into the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the five states which the São Francisco directly traverses or borders, its drainage basin also includes tributaries from the state of Goiás and the Federal District.
context_section_description: The course of the river, running through five states, may be divided into four sections, as follows:
  The high part, from its source to Pirapora in Minas Gerais
  The upper middle part, from Pirapora, where the navigable part begins, up to Remanso (Bahia) and the Sobradinho Dam
  The lower middle part, from the Sobradinho dam to Paulo Afonso, also in Bahia (bordering on Alagoas), and ending at the Itaparica Dam
  The low part, from Paulo Afonso to the river's mouth on the Atlantic Ocean
caption: São Francisco River south of Paulo Afonso
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 7D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "900", "Image YResolution": "900", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Photo Professional", "Image DateTime": "2015:03:28 10:28:36", "Image Artist": "Marinelson Almeida Silva", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "302", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "6078", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "900", "Thumbnail YResolution": "900", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6190", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7888", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "13", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:03:28 10:28:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:03:28 10:28:36", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "59/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5184", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "5184", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3456", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5784", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5184000/907", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "1071712342", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 135, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS"}