Aude (river)

The Aude is a river of southern French. It starts in the Pyrénées mountains and ends in the Mediterranean Sea. The Aude department is named after this river.

In Roman times, the Aude was called Atax by the Romans. In all likelihood the current name comes from gradual changes of Atax, a word borrowed from the Celtic atacos meaning "spirited" or "very fast"

Geography
The Aude has a length of , and a drainage basin with an area of approximately .

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 41.40 cubic metres per second at Moussan.

Course
The Aude starts in the Massif of Carlit at the Lac d'Aude at an elevation of  in the commune of Les Angles (Pyrénées-Orientales department).

From the Pyrénées to Carcassonne, the river flows generally from south to north and then turns to the east. The river then flows into the Mediterranean Sea a few kilometres from Narbonne at Grau de Vendres (near Cabanes-de-Fleury) on the border between the departments of Aude and Hérault.

The Aude flows through 1 region, 4 departments and 75 communes. The main communes are:

 Occitanie region
 Ariège: Rouze
 Pyrénées-Orientales: Matemale, Formiguères
 Aude: Axat, Quillan, Couiza, Limoux, Carcassonne, Trèbes, Narbonne, Coursan
 Hérault: Olonzac, Lespignan, Vendres

Main tributaries 
The main tributaries (30 km  or more long) of the Aude river are:
 Left tributaries
 Rébenty - 33.6 km;
 Sou - 29.5 km;
 Fresquel - 63 km;
 Orbiel - 40.9 km;
 Argent-Double - 37.4 km;
 Cesse - 53.5 km;
 Right tributaries
 Lauquet - 36.6 km;
 Orbieu - 84.1 km;

Gallery

Related pages
 List of rivers of France

 References 

Other websites

 Banque Hydro - Station Y1612020 - L'Aude à Moussan  

Category:Rivers of Occitanie