Ariège (river)

The Ariège (; ) is a river in the south of France. It is  long. It is a right tributary of the Garonne. The Ariège department is named after this river.

Geography
The Ariège river is  long. It has a drainage basin of .

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is  at Pinsaguel, near the confluence with the Garonne, in the Haute-Garonne department, for a period of 30 years.

Average monthly discharge (m3/s) at Pinsaguel

Course
The source of the Ariège is in the Lac of Font Nègre, at the Pyrenees on the border between France and Andorra, just south of Pas de la Casa (Andorra) on the western side of the Pics Orientaux de Font Nègre, in the commune of Porta, Pyrénées-Orientales department, at an altitude of about .

In its first part, it flows to the north, forming the border between France and Andorra, up to Pas de la Casa, and then turns to the north-east.

After flowing through the Ariège plain, the river gets out of the department of Ariège and into the department of Haute-Garonne and, finally, joins the Garonne river at Portet-sur-Garonne, near the city of Toulouse.

The Ariège flows to the northeast, in general, and passes through the following regions, departments and communes:

Andorra
 Parish of Canillo: Pas de la Casa
France
 Occitanie region
 Pyrénées-Orientales : Porta, Porté-Puymorens
 Ariège : L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre, Ax-les-Thermes, Les Cabannes, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, Montgaillard, Foix, Varilhes, Pamiers, Saverdun
 Haute-Garonne : Cintegabelle, Auterive, Venerque, Labarthe-sur-Lèze, Pins-Justaret, Pinsaguel

The Ariège river flows through a total of 58 communes.

Finally, it flows, as a right tributary, into the Garonne at Portet-sur-Garonne, in the Haute-Garonne department to the south of Toulouse, at  of altitude.

Main tributaries
Some of the tributaries are:
 Right tributaries:
 Oriège (); its source is on the northern side of the peak Carlit and flows into the Ariége at Ax-les-Thermes.
 Lauze ().
 Hers-Vif or Hers (). It is the tributary more important of the Ariége; it joins the Ariége at Cintegabelle (Haute-Garonne).
 Aïse ().
 Left tributaries
 Aston ().
 Vicdessos (). It joins the Ariége at Tarascon-sur-Ariége.
 Courbière (). It joins the Ariège before Tarascon-sur-Ariège.
 Arget (). It joins the Ariège on the foot of the Foix castle. Its valley is named as la Barguillière.
 Lèze ().

Gallery

Related pages
 List of rivers of France

 References 

Other websites

 Fédération de pêche de la Haute-Garonne  
 Eauxvives - L'Ariége 
 History and real-time water heights of Ariege river, Garonne river, and other tributaries 

Category:Rivers of Occitanie