Which River Marks the United States Boundary With Mexico and How Long Is the Rio Grande?

About two thirds of the border between the United States and Mexico is marked by the Rio Grande.

In all, the Rio Grande is 1,760 miles (2,834 km) long.

It begins as a stream high in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and travels through New Mexico and Texas into the Gulf of Mexico.

Along the way, its waters help irrigate 2 million acres (0.8 million ha) of farmland in the United States and Mexico.

The Rio Grande is the fifth-longest river in North America and the twentieth-longest in the world.

It’s redundant to say “Rio Grande River” because rib means “river” in Spanish.

People in Mexico have another name for it: Rio Bravo del Norte.