Adour

The Adour (, ) is a river in southwestern France. It flows through the Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions.

It starts in the Pyrenees, at the Arbizon mountain. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne.

Geography
The Adour river has a length of .This is the length including the Adour de Payolle, following SANDRE, the French official organism; other organisms give a shorter length because they start to measure from the Campan valley, at the confluence of three small rivers. Its drainage basin has an area of approximately .

Course
The Adour river starts, as Adour de Payolle, at the north side of the Arbizon mountain. This river combines with the Adour de Gripp and the Adour de Lesponne to form the Adour river at Campan.

The Adour flows north for almost  through the Hautes-Pyrénées to Gers. There, it turns to the west and gets into the Landes department. In Port-de-Lanne, the Adour is joined by the Gaves réunis river. Finally, it flows into the Bay of Biscay, in the Atlantic Ocean, between Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and Tarnos (Landes).

Boats can travel on the river beginning about  from its mouth.

Tributaries of the Adour
Some of the important tributaries (longer than ) of the Adour are:
Left tributaries:
 Échez; 
 Lées; 
 Gabas; 
 Louts;
 Luy;
 Gaves réunis;  (Gave de Pau );
 Bidouze; 
 Nive; Right tributaries
 Arros, 
 Midouze; 

Towns along the river
Départements and towns found along the Adour river are:
 Hautes-Pyrénées: Campan, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Tarbes, Maubourguet
 Gers: Riscle
 Landes: Aire-sur-l'Adour, Dax, Tarnos
 Pyrénées-Atlantiques: Bayonne

 Hydrology 
The average yearly discharge for the Adour river is  at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in the Landes department.

Average monthly discharge (m3/s) at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (1918 - 2017)

The Adour shows typical seasonal changes. The highest levels of the river are in winter and spring, from December to May inclusive, with the highest level in February. They are followed by a rapid fall in the flow during the low water period that goes from July to October.

Gallery

Related pages
 List of rivers of France

Notes

 References 

Other websites

 L'Adour : histoire, géographie et détournement   
 L'adour et ses affluents, villes et villages, faune et flore, navigation et pêche  

Category:Rivers of Occitanie
Category:Rivers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine