Brazos River

Brazos River Río de los Brazos de Dios
Brazos River downstream of Possum Kingdom Lake, Palo Pinto County, Texas
Brazos River watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Texas
Physical characteristics
Source	Llano Estacado
Source confluence	Stonewall County, Texas
• coordinates	33°16′07″N 100°0′37″W / 33.26861°N 100.01028°W / 33.26861; -100.01028[1]
• elevation	453 m (1,486 ft)
Mouth	Gulf of Mexico
• location	Brazosport, Brazoria County, Texas
• coordinates	28°52′33″N 95°22′42″W / 28.87583°N 95.37833°W / 28.87583; -95.37833[1]
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	1,352 km (840 mi)
Basin size	116,000 km2 (45,000 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Freeport, Texas
• average	237.5 m3/s (8,390 cu ft/s)
• minimum	0.76 m3/s (27 cu ft/s)
• maximum	2,390 m3/s (84,000 cu ft/s)

The Brazos River (/ˈbræzəs/ ^ⓘ BRAZ-əs, Spanish: [ˈbɾasos]), called the Río de los Brazos de Dios (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at 1,280 miles (2,060 km) from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Roosevelt County, New Mexico^[2] to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a 45,000-square-mile (116,000 km²) drainage basin.^[3] Being one of the largest rivers in Texas,^[4] it is sometimes used to mark the boundary between East Texas and West Texas.

The river is closely associated with Texas history, particularly the Austin settlement and Texas Revolution eras. Today major Texas institutions such as Texas Tech University, Baylor University, and Texas A&M University are located close to the river's basin, as are parts of metropolitan Houston.