Rhône River
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The River Rhône (French Rhône, Occitan Ròse, Franco-Provençal Roun, standard German Rhone, Valais German Rotten, Italian Rodano) , all coming from Latin Rhodanus, is one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France.
Course
It rises as the effluent of the Rhône Glacier in Valais, Switzerland, in the Saint-Gotthard massif, at an altitude of 1753 m.
Up to Martigny, the Rhône is a torrent, and then becomes a great mountain river running SW through a glacier valley. Then, it turns NW to exit the Alps and flows west through Lake Geneva (French Lac Leman) before entering France. The average annual discharge from Lake Geneva is 570 m³/s[The Rhone River: Hydromorphological and ecological rehabilitation of a heavily man-used hydrosystem] .
It is joined by the river Saône at Lyon, before going south.
At Arles, the Rhône divides itself in two arms, forming the Camargue delta, with all branches flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. One arm is called the "Grand Rhône", the other one is the "Petit Rhône". The average annual discharge at Arles is 2300 m³/s[The Rhone River: Hydromorphological and ecological rehabilitation of a heavily man-used hydrosystem] .
Navigation
The Rhône is an important route for inland navigation, connecting the industrial cities of Arles, Avignon, Valence, Vienne and Lyon to the Mediterranean Sea ports of Fos, Marseille and Sète. The Rhône is developed as a class V waterway from the mouth of the Saône to the sea. The Saône river, which is also canalized, connects the Rhône ports to the cities of Villefranche, Macon and Chalons. Smaller vessels (up to CEMT class I) can travel further North-West, North and North-East via the Centre-Loire-Briare and Loing Canals to the Seine river, via the Canal de la Marne à la Saône (recently often called the "Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne") to the Marne, via the Canal des Vosges (formerly called the "Canal de l'Est - Branche Sud" to the Moselle and via the Canal du Rhône au Rhin to the Rhine.
The Rhône is infamous for its strong current when the river carries large quantities of water: current speeds up to 10 kilometers per hour are sometimes reached, particularly in the stretch below the last lock at Valabrègues and in some of the diversion canals. The ten river locks are operated daily from 05:00 a.m. till 09:00 p.m., but night operation can be asked and is usually granted [NoorderSoft Waterways Database]
Along the Rhône
Cities and towns along the River Rhône include:
Switzerland
- Brig (Valais)
- Sion (Valais)
- see Lake Geneva for a list of Swiss and French towns around the lake
- Geneva (Geneva)
France
- Lyon
- Vienne (Isère)
- Tournon-sur-Rhône (Ardèche)
- Valence (Drôme)
- Montélimar (Drôme)
- Orange (Vaucluse)
- Roquemaure (Gard)
- Avignon (Vaucluse)
- Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (opposite Avignon) (Gard)
- Beaucaire (Gard)
- Vallabrègues (Gard)
- Tarascon (opposite Beaucaire) (Bouches-du-Rhône)
- Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône)
History
The river has been a trade route since prehistoric times, helping to link Northern Europe to the Mediterranean.
See also
References
External links
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