Tietê River, São Paulo estado (state), southeastern Brazil, rising in the Serra do Mar, just east of São Paulo city, and flowing in a northwesterly direction for about 700 miles (1,130 km) before joining the Paraná River at Ilha Grande, just above Urubupungá Falls. Its major tributaries include the Piracicaba, Jacaré, and Sorocaba, and it drains an area of 27,410 square miles (70,990 square km).
Several of the state’s large cities are located on or near the Tietê, but navigation along its course is impeded by frequent falls and rapids. The latter have been harnessed for power in several places and projects were undertaken in the 1990s to develop the river as a major internal east-west water route.