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.

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**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&nbsp;km
* Guil - 51.5&nbsp;km
* Vachères - 21.9&nbsp;km
* Ubaye - 82.7&nbsp;km
* La Blanche - 30.2&nbsp;km
* Sasse - 38.4&nbsp;km
* Vanson - 30.2&nbsp;km
* Bléone - 67.5&nbsp;km
* Rancure - 23.9&nbsp;km
* Asse - 75.3&nbsp;km
* Verdon - 165.7&nbsp;km
* Réal - 22.5&nbsp;km
* Anguillon - 20.1&nbsp;km

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

## Gallery

Sources durance.jpg|The source of the Durance
La durance près d'Avignon - P1000844.jpg|The Durance in Rognonas
Sisteron August2007 2.jpg|The bridge on the Durance between Sisteron and the Baume
La Durance près d'Avignon.JPG|The Durance near Avignon
Pano Confluent Rhone Durance.jpg|Confluence of the Durance with the Rhône

## Related pages
* List of rivers of France

## References
## Other websites
* Val de Durance  
*Mixed syndicate working on the valley of the Durance