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Durance
Durença
River
Durance near Manosque.jpg
The Durance near Manosque
Country France
Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Departments Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône
Communes Briançon, Embrun, Sisteron, Manosque, Cavaillon, Avignon
Tributaries
 - left Ubaye, Verdon
 - right Buëch, Coulon
City Avignon
Source Sommet des Anges
 - location Montgenèvre, Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
 - elevation 2,325 m (7,628 ft)
 - coordinates 44°53′37″N 6°43′17″E / 44.89361°N 6.72139°E / 44.89361; 6.72139
Confluence Rhône
 - location Avignon, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
 - elevation 20 m (66 ft)
 - coordinates 43°55′22″N 4°44′37″E / 43.92278°N 4.74361°E / 43.92278; 4.74361
Length 320.9 km (199 mi)
Basin 14,342 km² (5,537 sq mi)
Discharge for Saint-Paul-lès-Durance
 - average 175.0 /s (6,180 cu ft/s)

The Durance (Occitan: Durença) is a river in southeastern France, a left tributary of the Rhône river. It is the longest river in Metropolitan France without a department named after it.

Geography

The Durance river has a length of 320.9 km (199 mi) and a drainage basin with an area of approximately 14,342 km2 (5,537 sq mi).

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 175 m3/s (6,200 cu ft/s) at Saint-Paul-lès-Durance in the Bouches-du-Rhône department at an altitude of 247 m (810 ft), for a period of 95 years.

Average monthly discharge (m3/s) at Saint-Paul-lès-Durance

Course

The Durance starts in the pré de Gondran ("meadow of Gondran"), on the east side of the Sommet des Anges mountain, in the commune of Montgenèvre (a ski resort near Briançon), Hautes-Alpes department, at an elevation of about 2,325 m (7,628 ft). It then flows to the southwest through the departments of Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône.

Finally, the river flows into the Rhône river, as a left tributary, south of the city of Avignon.

The Durance only flows through two departments: Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence; it forms the border between two other departments but it does not flow through them: Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône. It flows through the Var department only for a short distance.

It flows through the following communes, among others:

Main tributaries

The main tributaries of the Durance river are:

Gallery

Related pages

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Río Durance para niños

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