Río La Pasión
| Río La Pasión | ||
 Ferry across the Río La Pasión near Sayaxché |
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| Data | ||
| location | Guatemala | |
| River system | Usumacinta River | |
| Drain over | Río Usumacinta → Gulf of Mexico | |
| origin | Confluence of the Río Machaquilá and Río Cancuén 16 ° 0 ′ 40 ″ N , 90 ° 1 ′ 52 ″ W |
|
| Source height | 250 m | |
| muzzle |
Río Usumacinta Coordinates: 16 ° 28 '52 " N , 90 ° 32' 39" W 16 ° 28 '52 " N , 90 ° 32' 39" W. |
|
| Mouth height | 200 m | |
| Height difference | 50 m | |
| Bottom slope | 0.14 ‰ | |
| length | 345 km | |
| Catchment area | 12,156 km² | |
| Drain |
MQ |
322 m³ / s |
The approximately 345 km long Río La Pasión has two headwaters - the Río Machaquilá and the Río Cancuén . He in turn forms - together with the Río Salinas - one of the two sources of the Río Usumacinta and drained wide areas of the southern Petén -Tieflandes of Guatemala .
history
On the banks of the Río La Pasión there are several archaeologically significant Mayan sites such as Dos Pilas , Tamarindito , Altar de Sacrificios , Aguateca , Seibal or Machaquilá , which indicates that the river was an important one in Mayan times and probably much earlier Was the lifeline for the population of the area.
Todays use
Like the Río Usumacinta in the west and the Río San Pedro in the north of the Peten, the Río La Pasión is still used by smaller passenger and cargo boats - despite the increasing traffic. In addition, ferry traffic plays a not unimportant role. The riparian zones are mostly covered with dense jungle, which should not hide the fact that large areas in the hinterland are used for agriculture as fields or pastureland.
fauna
River crocodiles or toucans are a rare sight along the Río La Pasión . Herons are seen more often because there are still enough fish in the river. Even river turtles sometimes bask on tree trunks, stones or sandbars on the bank.
