Rhône River
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| Rhône River | |
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| Origin | Rhône Glacier |
| Mouth | Mediterranean Sea |
| Basin countries | Switzerland, France |
| Length | 800 km (497 mi) |
| Source elevation | 1,753 m (5,752 ft) |
| Avg. discharge | 1,800 m³/s (63,576 ft³/s) |
| Basin area | 100,200 km² (38,687 mi²) |
The Rhône River, or the Rhône (French Rhône, Occitan Ròse, Franco-Provençal Rôno, standard German Rhone, Valais German Rotten), is one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France.
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[edit] Origin of the name
The word "Rhône" comes from Latin Rhodanus, which itself comes from ancient Greek Ῥοδανός (Rhodanos), which is the Greek rendering of the Gaulish (Celtic) name of the river, as heard by the Greeks living in the colony of Massalia (Marseille). The Celtic name of the river, something like Rodo or Roto, literally "that which rolls", or "that which runs", is a frequent name of rivers in the ancient Celtic tongue. It was also the name of the lower Seine River (see Seine article), as well as several other rivers of western Europe. This Celtic name comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ret- ("to run, roll"), which gave the word rota ("wheel") in Latin, from which is derived "rotate" and "to roll" in English. Cognates in modern Celtic languages are Irish rith and Welsh rhedeg, both meaning "to run".
Some scholars posit that the root rot- or rod- found in the name "Rhône" as well as in the name of many western European rivers, and whose original meaning seems to be "river", is in fact Pre-Indo-European, in which case it would only be a coincidence that it resembles the Proto-Celtic verb reto ("to run"). Further research is needed to decide between these two theories.
In French, the adjective derived from the river is rhodanien, as in le sillon rhodanien (literally "the furrow of the Rhône"), which is the name of the long straight Saône and Rhône rivers valley, a deep cleft running due south to the Mediterranean and separating the Alps from the Massif Central.
[edit] Course
It rises as the effluent of the Rhône Glacier in Valais, Switzerland, in the Saint-Gotthard massif, at an altitude of 1753 m.[citation needed]
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 Léman) before entering France. The average annual discharge from Lake Geneva is 570 m³/s[1].
It is joined by the river Saône at Lyon, before going south. Along the Rhône Valley, it is joined on the right bank by Cévennes rivers Eyrieux, Ardèche, Cèze and Gardon or Gard, on the left Alps bank by rivers Isère, Drôme, Ouvèze and Durance.
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[2].
[edit] Navigation
Before railroads and highways were invented, the Rhône was an important inland trade and transportation route,connecting the cities of Arles, Avignon, Valence, Vienne and Lyon to the Mediterranean ports of Fos, Marseille and Sète. Before this, traveling down the Rhone by barge would take 3 weeks - it now only takes 3 days. The Rhône is classified 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 northwest, north and northeast 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 [3].
[edit] Along the Rhône
Cities and towns along the Rhône River include:
[edit] Switzerland
- Brig (Valais)
- Visp (Valais)
- Sion (Valais)
- see Lake Geneva for a list of Swiss and French towns around the lake
- Geneva (Geneva)
[edit] France
- Lyon, (Rhône (département))
- Vienne (Isère)
- Tournon-sur-Rhône (Ardèche) opposite Tain-l'Hermitage (Drôme)
- Valence (Drôme) opposite Saint-Péray and Guilherand-Granges (Ardèche)
- Montélimar (Drôme) opposite Le Teil and Rochemaure (Ardèche)
- Viviers (Ardèche)
- Bourg-Saint-Andéol (Ardèche)
- Pont-Saint-Esprit (Gard)
- Roquemaure (Gard)
- Avignon (Vaucluse) (opposite Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) (Gard)
- Beaucaire (Gard) opposite Tarascon (Bouches-du-Rhône)
- Vallabrègues (Gard)
- Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône)
[edit] History
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The river has served as a trading device for France, thus linking northern Europe to the Mediterranean Sea.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles to be expanded since February 2007 | All articles to be expanded | Rivers of Switzerland | Rivers of France | Rhone basin | Ain | Bouches-du-Rhône | Drôme | Gard | Haute-Savoie | Isère | Rhône
