Iguazú Falls - stock photo

Iguazú Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. Their name comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y (water) and ûasú (big).The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers (1.67 miles) of the Iguazu River. Some of the individual falls are up to 82 meters (269 ft) in height, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft). The Devil's Throat, a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide (269 by 490 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. Two thirds of the falls are within Argentine territory. Only two other waterfalls can be compared to the magnitude of Iguazú. Victoria Falls in Africa and Niagara Falls on the border of the USA and Canada. Iguazú is the widest and Victoria is the highest among these three and the two have similar annual peak flow and records well in excess of 12,000 m³/s! And about Niagara, well let's just say when the former first lady of the USA visited Iguazú, she apparently said: "Poor Niagara!"Ps.: These pictures were taken during a drought in the region and the actually amount of water is about 30% of what it usually is!