Tocantins River

The Tocantins River is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak". It runs from south to north for about 2,450 km (1,520 mi). While sometimes included in definitions of the Amazon basin, the Tocantins is not a branch of the Amazon River, since its waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean via an eastern channel of the Amazon Delta, alongside those of the Amazon proper. It flows through four Brazilian states and gives its name to one of Brazil's newest states, formed in 1988 from what was until then the northern portion of Goiás.