The Grande River (Rio Grande in Portuguese) is in south-central Brazil. It rises in the Mantiqueira Mountains in the state of Minas Gerais and descends inland, west-northwestward. Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, the second most populous and fourth largest by area in the federation Its lower course marks a portion of the Minas Gerais-São Paulo border. At the Mato Grosso do Sul state border, after a course of 1,360 km. , it joins the Paranaíba River to form the Upper Paraná River. The Paranaíba River is a Brazilian river whose source lies in the state of Minas Gerais in the Mata da Corda mountains municipality of Rio Paranaíba at an altitude of 1148 This article is about the second-longest river in South America For the shorter river in Goiás, central Brazil see Paranã River The Paraná River

The Grande is interrupted by several dams and reservoirs: in the upper Grande the river forms Furnas Reservoir, then Peixotos, and downstream, Água Vermelha. Furnas is an artificial lake, Dam and Power plant in northern Minas Gerais state Brazil.

The river plays a major role in production of electricity and, due to rapids and waterfalls, and absence of locks, is only navigable by small craft in limited stretches. However the Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas (a narrow gauge railway) operated a passenger and freight steam navigation service between 1889 and 1963. The Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas was a narrow gauge Railway located in the southeastern Brazilian state of A narrow gauge railway (or narrow gauge railroad) is a Railway that has a Track gauge narrower than the of Standard gauge railways The EFOM met the Rio Grande at Riberao Vermelho, from where the service ran down the river for 208 km, as far as Capetina. There were six stations on the river between Riberao Vermelho and Capetinga, and the railway operated a fleet of 6 stern-wheel paddle steamers, together with barges and launches. A paddle steamer is a ship or boat driven by a Steam engine that uses one or more Paddle wheels to develop thrust for propulsion. BARGE, the Big August RecGambling Excursion is a yearly convention held in Las Vegas during the first weekend of August A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large Motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship The service was halted by the completion of the Furnas Reservoir.