Tagus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tagus River |
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| Tajo, Tejo | |
 View of Tagus River in Toledo, Spain
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| Countries | Spain, Portugal |
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| Tributaries | |
| - left | Guadiela, Algodor, Gévalo, Ibor, Almonte, Salor, Sever |
| - right | Gallo, Jarama, Guadarrama, Alberche, Tiétar, Alagón, Zêzere |
| Source | Fuente de García |
| - location | Montes Universales, Sierra de Albarracín Comarca, Teruel, Aragon, Spain |
| - elevation | 1,593 m (5,226 ft) |
| Mouth | Estuary of the Tagus |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon, Portugal |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 1,007 km (626 mi) |
| Basin | 80,100 km² (30,927 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| - average | 500 m³/s (17,657 cu ft/s) |
The Tagus (Spanish: Tajo Portuguese: Tejo Latin: Tagus; Ancient Greek: Τάγος Tagos) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula.
Geography
It is 1,007 km (626 mi) long, 716 km (445 mi) in Spain and 275 km (171 mi) in Portugal. For 47 km (29 mi) it forms the border between Portugal and Spain. The river flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon.
It drains an area of 80,100 square kilometers (30,927 sq mi) (the second largest in the Iberian peninsula after the Douro). The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course. Several dams and diversions supply drinking water to most of central Spain, including Madrid, and Portugal, while dozens of hydroelectric stations create power.
Between dams it follows a very constricted course, but after Almourol it enters a vast alluvial valley prone to flooding. At its mouth is a large estuary on which the port city of Lisbon is situated.
The source of the Tagus is the Fuente de García, in the Frías de Albarracín municipal term, Montes Universales, Sistema Ibérico, Sierra de Albarracín Comarca. All its major tributaries enter the Tagus from the right (north) bank. The main cities it passes through are Aranjuez, Toledo, Talavera de la Reina and Alcántara in Spain, and Abrantes, Santarém, Almada and Lisbon in Portugal.
Images for kids
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Tagus river gorge, in the Alto Tajo Nature Reserve, Guadalajara, Spain
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Confluence of the Guadarrama and Tagus rivers
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Tagus river seen from the Castle of Almourol (Portugal)
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See also
In Spanish: Tajo para niños
