rhne river

The River Rhne (Latin Rhodanus, French Rhne, Occitan Rose, German Rotten) is one of the major rivers (ca. 800 km miles long) of Europe, running through Switzerland and France.

Course

It rises near the Rhne glacier in Valais, Switzerland, in the Saint-Gotthard massif, at an altitude of 1753 m. Up to Martigny, the Rhne is a torrent, and then becomes a great mountain river running SW through a glacier valley. Then, it turns NW to exit the Alps and flows west through Lake Geneva (French Lac Leman) before entering France.

It is joined by the river Sane at Lyon, before going south. At Arles, the Rhne divides itself in two arms, forming the Camargue delta, with all branches flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. One arm is called the "Grand Rhne", the other one is the "Petit Rhne".

Tributaries

Power & speed

Though not the longest, the Rhne is the fastest and most powerful river in France. An average of 1800 m³/s of water pours into the Mediterranean at its delta. This puts it at number 48 in the world ranking. However, heavy rain can cause the river to swell to dangerous proportions. For example, the rate was 11,000 m³/s at Beaucaire in January 1994.