Iguazu Falls is not one waterfall but a horseshoe of about 275 individual cascades spanning 2.7 km on the Argentina-Brazil border, dropping as much as 82 m at the Devil's Throat. Toggle the flow to compare average discharge against a flood, or highlight the Devil's Throat chasm itself.
Published figures: about 275 individual falls across a 2.7 km horseshoe; main drop about 64-82 m, with the maximum commonly cited at about 82 m at the Devil's Throat; average flow about 1,746 cubic m per second, with floods exceeding 12,000.
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Iguazu Falls 3D Explorer
This browser explorer shows Iguazu Falls in cross-section: a curved basalt cliff line where the Iguazu River's plateau drops away into about 275 separate cascades spread across a 2.7 km crescent. Near the center of that crescent the cliff cuts deeper into the plateau at the Devil's Throat (Garganta do Diablo), a U-shaped chasm about 150 m wide and 700 m long where the tallest drop, about 82 m, sends up a constant column of spray.
The falls sit on the border between Argentina's Iguazu National Park and Brazil's Iguacu National Park, a few kilometers upstream of where the Iguazu River joins the much larger Parana River. Average flow is about 1,746 cubic m per second, but that figure swings widely with the season - down to a few hundred cubic m per second in a dry spell, and past 12,000 during flood peaks, when many of the smaller cascades merge into a single unbroken wall of water. The falls formed on a basalt plateau laid down by ancient lava flows, since carved back by the river over millions of years. Both national parks are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the falls were named one of the New7Wonders of Nature in 2011.
- Toggle the flow band to compare a dry-season trickle against flood-season spray across the cliff face
- Toggle the Devil's Throat marker to locate the deepest, U-shaped chasm in the crescent
- Read width, height, and flow-rate figures in the panel
- Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
| Figure | Published value |
|---|---|
| Number of individual falls | about 275, varying from roughly 150 to 300 with water level |
| Total width | about 2.7 km, in a crescent shape |
| Maximum height | about 82 m, at the Devil's Throat |
| Devil's Throat (Garganta do Diablo) | a U-shaped chasm about 150 m wide and 700 m long |
| Average flow rate | about 1,746 cubic m per second |
| Flow range | a few hundred cubic m per second in the dry season to over 12,000 during flood peaks |
| Bordering countries | Argentina (Iguazu National Park) and Brazil (Iguacu National Park) |
| Recognition | UNESCO World Heritage Sites (1984, 1986); New7Wonders of Nature (2011) |
For a canyon carved by a much larger river over a much longer drop, open the Grand Canyon 3D Explorer, or compare the world's deepest point of any kind in the Mariana Trench 3D Explorer.
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This is an educational approximation - the cliff profile, crescent shape, and vertical scale are schematic teaching cues, not survey data.
Frequently Asked Questions
How tall is Iguazu Falls?
The tallest single drop is about 82 m, at the Devil's Throat. Most of the roughly 275 cascades across the 2.7 km crescent are shorter than that.
What is the Devil's Throat?
The Devil's Throat (Garganta do Diablo) is a U-shaped chasm about 150 m wide and 700 m long near the center of the crescent, where water plunges from three sides into a single deep basin - the tallest and highest-volume part of the falls.
Is Iguazu Falls in Argentina or Brazil?
Both. The falls straddle the border, with most of the individual cascades on the Argentina side (Iguazu National Park) and a wide panoramic view from the Brazil side (Iguacu National Park).
Is Iguazu Falls bigger than Niagara Falls?
Iguazu is roughly twice as wide as Niagara Falls and its tallest drop is taller, though Niagara moves more water on average - the two are shaped very differently, a single broad drop at Niagara against a wide crescent of many separate cascades at Iguazu.
Does the flow rate change with the season?
Yes, substantially. Average flow is about 1,746 cubic m per second, but it can drop to a few hundred in a dry spell and exceed 12,000 during flood peaks, when many smaller cascades merge into one continuous wall of water.
Is this a scientific terrain model?
No. It is an educational explorer using published figures - the cliff profile, crescent shape, and vertical scale are schematic teaching cues, not survey data.