The Iguassu Falls are responsible for the coming of a great contingent of tourists to the City of Foz do Iguaçu, originated from all the parts of the world.
   
In 2005, the Iguassu National Park - who shelters the Falls - had counted more than a million visitors, a record only registered during the decade of 80.
The Park, that is located on the border with Argentina, provides to the visitors on the Brazilian side a privileged vision of the falls, with panoramic view of the falls. In the neighbor country, the advantages are the contact and integration with the nature, having also the chance to see the jumps from several angles.
 
The best is to know both sides, even because there are different ways to go to the falls, where you can have different sensations, such like going in a comfortable bus to the brazilian side of the falls or in a charming train to the argentinean side.


The word Iguassu in the etymology Tupi-Guarani means "big  water". The river is born near the mountain chain "Serra do Mar", and it travels 1.320 km from the east to the west of the Paraná State, where is located the mouth of the Iguassu River, running to the Paraná River.
 
Formed approximately 150 million years ago, the area is composed by 275 falls, forming an only front in time of full. The great falls are 19, just three on the Brazilian side (Floriano, Deodoro and Benjamin Constant). The disposition of the falls provides the best view to the people who observe the scenery from the Brazilian side, especially because most of the falls are faced to Brazil.
 
After a large and rapid curve, the river runs to a rift created by the erosion (place where it is located the border between Brazil and Argentina), forming the Devil's Throat. From there, the biggest part of the water follows in the main channel of the river. The river Iguassu in the upper part of the Falls is 1.200 meters wide, being narrowed up to 65 meters in the canyon formed just after the falls. The extension of the Iguassu Falls is of 800 meters in the Brazilian side and 1.900 meters on the Argentinean side, resulting in a total width of 2.700 meters in a semi-circular form or horseshoe shape.
 
Depending on the volume of water, the number of falls on the Iguassu Falls can change from 150 to 300. The height varies of 40 to 82 meters. The medium volume of the river is 1.500 m³ of water per second, decreasing to 300 m³ per second in the occasions of drought and increasing to 6.500 m³ per second or more during the periods of full.