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" (
Tukã for "toucan" and
Ti for "beak"). It runs from south to north for about 2,640 km. It is not really a branch of the
Amazon River, although usually so considered, since its waters flow into the
Atlantic Ocean alongside those of the Amazon. It flows through four Brazilian states (
Goiás,
Tocantins,
Maranhão and
Pará) and gives its name to one of Brazil's newest states, formed in 1988 from what was until then the northern portion of Goiás.