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The São Francisco ((:sɐ̃w fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku)) is a river in Brazil. With a length of ,〔http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/523470/Sao-Francisco-River〕 it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon, the Paraná and the Madeira). It used to be known as the ''Opara'' by the indigenous people before colonisation, and is today also known as ''Velho Chico'' ("Old Frank"). The São Francisco originates in the Canastra mountain range in the central-western part of the state of Minas Gerais. It runs generally north in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, behind the coastal range, draining an area of over , before turning east to form the border between Bahia on the right bank and the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas on the left one. After that, it forms the boundary between the states of Alagoas and Sergipe and washes into the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the five states which the São Francisco directly traverses or borders, its drainage basin also includes tributaries from the state of Goiás and the Federal District. It is an important river for Brazil, called "the river of national integration" because it unites diverse climes and regions of the country, in particular the Southeast with the Northeast. It is navigable between the cities of Pirapora (Minas Gerais) and Juazeiro (Bahia), as well as between Piranhas (Alagoas) and the mouth on the ocean, but traditional passenger navigation has all but disappeared in recent years due to changes in the river flow (see below). ==Discovery== The river was first discovered by Europeans on 4 October 1501 (by the Florentine discoverer Amerigo Vespucci, who named it after Saint Francis of Assisi, whose feast day falls on 4 October). In 1865 the British explorer and diplomat Richard Francis Burton was transferred to Santos in Brazil. He explored the central highlands, canoeing down the São Francisco river from its source to the falls of Paulo Afonso.〔Wright (1905), (vol. 1, p. 200 ).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「São Francisco River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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