São Francisco River, Physiography

The São Francisco River rises at about 2,400 feet (730 metres) above sea level on the eastern slope of the Serra da Canastra in southwestern Minas Gerais state, about 150 miles northwest of the city of Belo Horizonte. The river flows for more than 1,000 miles northward across the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, through the extensive Sobradinho Reservoir, to the twin cities of Juàzeiro