Ariège (river)
The Ariege (; ) is a river in the south of France. It is long. It is a right tributary of the Garonne. The Ariege department is named after this river.
Geography
The Ariege 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 Ariege is in the Lac of Font Negre, 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 Negre, in the commune of Porta, Pyrenees-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 Ariege plain, the river gets out of the department of Ariege and into the department of Haute-Garonne and, finally, joins the Garonne river at Portet-sur-Garonne, near the city of Toulouse.
The Ariege 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
Pyrenees-Orientales : Porta, Porte-Puymorens
Ariege : L'Hospitalet-pres-l'Andorre, Ax-les-Thermes, Les Cabannes, Tarascon-sur-Ariege, Montgaillard, Foix, Varilhes, Pamiers, Saverdun
Haute-Garonne : Cintegabelle, Auterive, Venerque, Labarthe-sur-Leze, Pins-Justaret, Pinsaguel
The Ariege 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:
Oriege (); its source is on the northern side of the peak Carlit and flows into the Ariege at Ax-les-Thermes.
Lauze ().
Hers-Vif or Hers (). It is the tributary more important of the Ariege; it joins the Ariege at Cintegabelle (Haute-Garonne).
Aise ().
Left tributaries
Aston ().
Vicdessos (). It joins the Ariege at Tarascon-sur-Ariege.
Courbiere (). It joins the Ariege before Tarascon-sur-Ariege.
Arget (). It joins the Ariege on the foot of the Foix castle. Its valley is named as la Barguilliere.
Leze ().
Gallery
Related pages
List of rivers of France
References
Other websites
Federation de peche de la Haute-Garonne
Annuaire-Mairie-fr - Riviere L'ariege
Eauxvives - L'Ariege
History and real-time water heights of Ariege river, Garonne river, and other tributaries
Rivers of Occitanie