Durance

The Durance () 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  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  at Saint-Paul-lès-Durance in the Bouches-du-Rhône department at an altitude of , 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 . 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:
 Hautes-Alpes
Briançon
Embrun
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Sisteron
Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban
Manosque
Vaucluse
Pertuis
Cadenet
Cavaillon

Main tributaries 
The main tributaries of the Durance river are:

Left tributaries:
 Cerveyrette - 22.8 km
 Guil - 51.5 km
 Vachères - 21.9 km
 Ubaye - 82.7 km
 La Blanche - 30.2 km
 Sasse - 38.4 km
 Vanson - 30.2 km
 Bléone - 67.5 km
 Rancure - 23.9 km
 Asse - 75.3 km
 Verdon - 165.7 km
 Réal - 22.5 km
 Anguillon - 20.1 km

Right tributaries:
 Clarée - 31.8 km
 Guisane - 27.7 km
 Avance - 20.6 km
 Luye - 22.6 km
 Buëch - 85 km
 Jabron - 36.5 km
 Lauzon - 25.2 km
 Largue - 55.4 km
 Èze - 24.3 km
 Aigue Brun - 22.8 km
 Coulon - 88.2 km

Gallery

Related pages
 List of rivers of France

References

Other websites

 Val de Durance  
Mixed syndicate working on the valley of the Durance 

Category:Rivers of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur