Usumacinta River

The Usumacinta river starts of its life where the rivers of Pasion and Salinas meet in the Sierra Madre de Guatemala moutain range. The total length of the Usumacinta river is roughly one thousand kilometres before finishing at its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.

On its journey the Usumacinta forms a natural boundary between Guatemala and Mexico before carrying on its journey through Mexico to the sea.

In ancient times the river formed very important trade routes for civilizations such as the Mayans, this is shown through the fact that two famous Mayan cities, Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras, lay on the rivers banks.

Unfortunately today the river sees alot of illegal activity carried out on its waters and by its banks, this activity includes logging, and smuggling of many different forms from drugs to people.

Image attributed to Jacobolus