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Tagus Tajo (Spanish) Tejo (Portuguese)
View of Tagus River in Toledo, Spain
Path of the Tagus through the Iberian Peninsula
Etymology	Vulgar Latin taliāre, "to cut through"
Location
Country	Spain, Portugal
Physical characteristics
Source	Fuente de García, Montes Universales
• location	Frías de Albarracín, Spain
• coordinates	40°19′16″N 1°41′49″W / 40.321°N 1.697°W / 40.321; -1.697
• elevation	1,593 m (5,226 ft)
Mouth	Estuary of the Tagus, Atlantic Ocean
• location	Lisbon, Portugal
• coordinates	38°41′28″N 9°10′16″W / 38.691°N 9.171°W / 38.691; -9.171
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	1,007 km (626 mi)
Basin size	80,100 km2 (30,900 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	500 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Guadiela, Algodor, Gévalo, Ibor, Almonte, Salor, Sever
• right	Gallo, Jarama, Guadarrama, Alberche, Tiétar, Alagón, Zêzere

The Tagus (/ˈteɪɡəs/ TAY-gəs; Spanish: Tajo [ˈtaxo]; Portuguese: Tejo [ˈtɛʒu]; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows 1,007 km (626 mi), generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon.^[1]

Nameedit

The river's Latin name is Tagus. While the etymology is unclear, the most probable etymological origin for the hydronym Tagus is Indo-European *(s)tag- ('to drip').^[2]

Geologyedit

The lower Tagus region in Portugal is a seismically active area. Major earthquakes in the Lower Tagus include those of 1309, 1531, and 1909.^[3][4]

Inverted Deltaedit

Tagus river is one of the few rivers in the world to have an inverted delta. Its delta is wider at the beginning and narrows down as it approaches the sea, contrary to a typical delta. This is because it flows into the sea through a small opening in a valley. Although due to sedimentation, this delta is now only very partially inverted, with the valley now mostly filled with sediment. The delta is about 15 km wide and 25 km long, but its exit into the sea is only 2 km wide. It thus forms a large lagoon with large and very shallow sand banks which go uncovered during low tides. The delta used to be even bigger thousands of years ago.

Historyedit

The Pepper Wreck, properly the wreck of the Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, is a shipwreck located and excavated at the mouth of the Tagus between 1996 and 2001.^[5]

The Tagus river basin comprises 42 River Nature Reserves ^[es] and is the river basin with the most protected areas in Spain.^{[1]: Prefacio}

See alsoedit

• List of rivers of Spain
• List of rivers of Portugal
• Media related to Tagus River at Wikimedia Commons

Referencesedit

40°19′11″N 1°41′51″W / 40.31972°N 1.69750°W / 40.31972; -1.69750