The short answer
Iguazú Falls is a system of waterfalls on the Iguazu River, where it drops off the edge of a basalt plateau on the border between the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. UNESCO describes a semicircular fall some 80 metres high and 2,700 metres across, standing on a line of basalt that spans the border. Islands along the edge break it into many separate falls; about half the river pours into one narrow chasm, the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, through which the border runs. Nearly 80 per cent of the falls are on the Argentine side, although more than 95 per cent of the river’s basin is in Brazil. Two national parks protect them: Argentina’s Iguazú National Park, created in 1934 and inscribed by UNESCO in 1984, and Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park, created in 1939 and inscribed in 1986. The name comes from Guaraní words for water and big.
From Tally’s diary
Rode a little train through steaming green forest, then walked out over a wide brown river on metal grating until the river stopped and dropped away into a horseshoe of white thunder. Small dark birds flew straight through the curtain and did not come out. A striped tail inspected my bag. Butterflies sat on my sleeves. I tried to count the falls, lost my place, and lost it again.
February 2025The Devil’s Throat from the balcony at the end of the Argentine walkway.
Photograph: Brandon Antonio Segura Torres and Priscilla Vieto Bonilla, CC BY-SA 4.0
Why it's worth knowing
Ask how many waterfalls there are at Iguazú and you will be given a number. Argentina’s government says 275. Other counts give a range instead: from 150 to 300, depending on the river’s level. In high water, the falls to the left of the Devil’s Throat merge into a single front; in low water, about 900 metres of the 2.7-kilometre edge carries no water at all. The number is not a property of the rock. It is a reading of the river on the day.
And the river varies enormously. The company that runs the Brazilian park gives the average flow as about 1.5 million litres a second, 1,500 cubic metres, and its record as 46.3 million litres a second in 2014, some thirty times that. In a severe drought in 2006, the flow fell to 300 cubic metres a second and stayed there until early December.
The parties do not even agree on which flood was biggest. Argentina’s government called the flood of October 2023 the largest in the river’s history, after it destroyed most of the walkway to the Devil’s Throat. The Brazilian park’s operator gives its peak, 24 million litres a second on 30 October 2023, as only the third largest on its record, behind 2014 and 35 million litres a second in 1983. Both are reported here as each party gives them.
The field notes
A walkway the river takes back
On the Argentine side, the most famous view is from a walkway that runs about a kilometre out across the upper river to a balcony over the Devil’s Throat. Argentina’s national parks administration reported that the October 2023 flood destroyed 90 per cent of it: 79 of the 99 sections and part of the balcony, along with the food area and toilets at the station and a stretch of the railway that brings visitors to it. The rebuilt circuit reopened on 13 July 2024.
November 2018The Devil’s Throat from the air, with the walkway to its balcony running out across the upper river at left.
Photograph: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Two years later the operator did not wait for the water. In July 2026, citing forecasts linked to El Niño that predicted high flows in September and October, the concessionaire Iguazú Argentina asked the national parks administration for permission to take the walkway apart as a precaution. The work began on Monday 3 August 2026: floors and railings were lifted, section by section, and stored at the Garganta del Diablo station until the river allows them back. The operator said it would take 40 days. The other circuits on the Argentine side stayed open.
Two countries, one edge
The two sides give different views of the same falls. Most of the falls are on the Argentine side, so the Argentine paths go over, beside and below them, with boats to San Martín Island. The Brazilian side faces most of them across the gorge: its main trail runs about a kilometre along the canyon to a walkway that reaches out towards the base of the Devil’s Throat.
November 2018The Argentine falls seen across the gorge from Brazil’s Falls Trail.
Photograph: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
The two countries also differ on the air above. Helicopter flights over the falls have been offered from Brazil, while Argentina prohibits such tours because of their effect on wildlife.
The forest around it
The falls sit in subtropical Atlantic forest, which the spray keeps unusually lush. UNESCO lists more than 2,000 species of vascular plants in the Brazilian park and animals including tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and caimans. Among the animals listed in the Argentine park is the ring-tailed coati; the Argentine operator asks visitors not to touch or feed any wildlife, and to eat only in the areas set aside for it.
November 2013Young ring-tailed coatis in the forest of Iguaçu National Park, Brazil.
Photograph: Deni Williams, Parque Nacional do Iguaçú - Iguaçu National Park - Filhotes de quati - South American Coati (ring-tailed coati - Nasua nasua), CC BY 2.0, cropped
The first European to record the falls was the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, in 1541 or 1542.
- See it from both banks if you can. They do not tell the same story.
- Wear something you do not mind being soaked in, and put the notebook away before the last corner.
- Keep your lunch zipped up and your hands to yourself. The striped visitors are wild, whatever they tell you.
- Ask at the gate which paths are open today, and do not sulk about the others. The river has its reasons.
- Count the falls. (Got one number from each bank. Both are on the list. The river has declined to choose.)
A relic from Iguazú Falls
Relic, entry 106Destroyed 2023: 79 of 99 sectionsReopened: July 2024
The walkway to the Devil’s Throat. On the Argentine side, a walkway runs about a kilometre out across the upper Iguazu River to a balcony over the edge of the Garganta del Diablo. It is built to be taken up. The flood of October 2023 destroyed 79 of its 99 sections; it was rebuilt and reopened in July 2024; and in August 2026, with high water forecast, its floors and railings were lifted one section at a time and stacked at the railway station to wait for the river to calm down.
Tally, in the marginDear walkway: thank you for holding me up over all that water, and for knowing when to step aside for it. I am sorry I only looked down once.
Getting there
- 1
Flying to the Argentine side
On the Argentine side, Aerolíneas Argentinas flies from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú’s international airport.
- 2
Flying to the Brazilian side
On the Brazilian side, airlines including Azul, GOL and LATAM fly to Foz do Iguaçu.
- 3
Crossing between the two parks
The two towns sit on opposite banks, and visiting both parks means crossing an international border with a passport.
- 4
The park bus in Brazil
On the Brazilian side, tickets are sold online for a chosen day and time, and include the park bus from the visitor centre to the Falls Trail.
- ✓
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January: best time | February: best time | December: best time |
- December to February
How to get there. Each side has its own airport.
January 2020The gorge below the Devil’s Throat from the easternmost lookout of the Argentine Lower Circuit.
Photograph: Falk2, CC BY-SA 4.0
Tickets. On the Argentine side, tickets can be bought online up to 30 days ahead through the operator, Iguazú Argentina, or the national parks administration; the ticket includes the trails and the Rainforest Ecological Train. On the Brazilian side, tickets are sold online for a chosen day and time, and include the park bus from the visitor centre to the Falls Trail.
The Devil’s Throat walkway comes and goes with the river. When high water is on its way, its floors and railings are lifted section by section and stacked at the Garganta del Diablo station to wait, and the other paths carry on along the falls: over, beside and below them on the Argentine side, across the gorge on the Brazilian.
When to go. The climate is humid and subtropical, and December to February are usually the months of greatest flow. More water means more spray and fewer separate falls; less water means more of them. Wear clothes that can get soaked, and keep food packed away from the coatis.
Two countries, two gateway towns: Puerto Iguazú on the Argentine bank, and Foz do Iguaçu on the Brazilian, a city that also borders Paraguay. Seeing both sides of the falls means crossing a border.
The national park
- The park
- Argentina's Iguazú National Park, on the World Heritage List since 1984.Source: Administración de Parques Nacionales, Argentina (Parque Nacional Iguazú) · read
- Known for
- An Important Bird Area.Source: Administración de Parques Nacionales, Argentina (Parque Nacional Iguazú) · read
- In numbers
- More than 670 square kilometres.Source: Administración de Parques Nacionales, Argentina (Parque Nacional Iguazú) · read
- Established
- 1934.Source: Administración de Parques Nacionales, Argentina (Parque Nacional Iguazú) · read
Mark this place
The passport stamp for this place.
Common questions
How many waterfalls are there at Iguazú Falls?
It depends on the river. Argentina’s government gives the number as 275. Wikipedia’s accounts of Iguazú Falls and of Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park give a range of 150 to 300 separate falls, depending on the water level: in high water many merge into one front, and in low water about 900 metres of the 2.7-kilometre edge runs dry.
Is Iguazú Falls in Argentina or Brazil?
Both. Iguazú Falls is on the Iguazu River where it forms the border between the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná, and the border runs through the Devil’s Throat. By Wikipedia’s account nearly 80 per cent of the falls are on the Argentine side, and each country protects its side in a national park.
What is the Devil’s Throat at Iguazú?
The Devil’s Throat, Garganta del Diablo in Spanish and Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese, is the narrow U-shaped chasm at Iguazú Falls into which about half of the Iguazu River pours. Argentina’s government describes it as the fall with the greatest flow and height, about 80 metres. The border between Argentina and Brazil runs through it.
Why is the Devil’s Throat walkway sometimes taken apart?
Because the Iguazu River can take it. The October 2023 flood destroyed 79 of the walkway’s 99 sections over the Devil’s Throat at Iguazú Falls, and the rebuilt circuit reopened on 13 July 2024. In August 2026, with high water forecast, the Argentine operator lifted its floors and railings section by section and stored them at the Garganta del Diablo station.
How much water flows over Iguazú Falls?
The operator of Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park gives the average flow at Iguazú Falls as about 1.5 million litres a second, or 1,500 cubic metres. Its record is 46.3 million litres a second in 2014; Wikipedia gives the maximum as 45,700 cubic metres a second on 9 June 2014. In a drought in 2006 the flow fell to 300 cubic metres a second.
Which side of Iguazú Falls is better, Argentina or Brazil?
They offer different views of Iguazú Falls. Most of the falls are on the Argentine side, where trails run above, beside and below them and a walkway normally reaches the Devil’s Throat. The Brazilian side looks across the gorge at most of them, with a trail of about a kilometre ending at a walkway towards the base of the Devil’s Throat. Many visitors see both, which means crossing a border.
When were the Iguazú parks created?
Argentina’s Iguazú National Park was created in 1934 and Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park by a federal decree of 10 January 1939. UNESCO inscribed the Argentine park as a World Heritage Site in 1984 and the Brazilian park in 1986, together protecting a waterfall UNESCO describes as some 80 metres high and 2,700 metres across.
Which towns are the gateways to Iguazú Falls?
Puerto Iguazú, in Argentina’s Misiones province, and Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil’s Paraná state. Each country protects its side of Iguazú Falls in its own national park, and many visitors see both, which means crossing the border.
Photographs on this page
Tap a photograph to see it full size.
Photograph: Falk2, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Photograph: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph: Brandon Antonio Segura Torres and Priscilla Vieto Bonilla, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph: Deni Williams, Parque Nacional do Iguaçú - Iguaçu National Park - Filhotes de quati - South American Coati (ring-tailed coati - Nasua nasua), CC BY 2.0, cropped
Photograph: Falk2, CC BY-SA 4.0
