TUIRA RIVER

Spanish Ro Tuira, or Tuyra, stream in eastern Panama, 106 miles (170 km) long. It rises in the Darin highlands (Serrana del Darin) and flows south-southeast then north and west past El Real de Santa Mara, where it receives the Chucunaque River, and then northwest to La Palma on the Gulf of San Miguel (Pacific Ocean). It is navigable for about 75 miles (120 km) above its mouth. The basin, which consists of a tropical rain forest with more than 80 inches (2,000 mm) annual rainfall and no appreciable dry season, is the home of the Choc Indians.