Sao Francisco River, Brazil

This Envisat image highlights the Sao Francisco River in eastern Brazil. With a course of some 2914 km, the Sao Francisco is the fourth largest river in South America and the largest river located wholly within Brazil. It is called the “river of national unity” because its basin crosses several Brazilian states.

Image acquired 20 August 2007 by the MERIS (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) instrument aboard ESA’s Envisat satellite.