Ätran is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

. The river is about 240 km long, and has its source in Gullered,

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, at a height of 332 m above sea level. The river has its mouth in

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömseb ...

, where the river enters

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

. The

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

has an area of 3,343 km², of which most is forest. The river is well known as a good place for fishing. It is comparatively unpolluted A road used for thousands of years, ''Redvägen'', followed the river. Along the road several

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

s took place during the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

era.

Path, tributaries and drainage basin

The river passes through several minor lakes in Västergötland (''Sörsjön'', ''Nolsjö'', ''Vinsarpsjö'' and ''Lönnern''). By the time it reaches Åsunden, a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

of some size, it is about 1–2 m deep och 6–10 m wide. As the tributaries named ''Lillån'' join the river it gain considerably in size.Nordisk familjebok: Ätran
/ref> The largest tributary is Högvadsån. Other main tributaries are Assman (Lillån), which join the river close to Örsås church and Kalvån (Lillån), which join the river close to Östra Frölunda church. The drainage basin include the major parts of

, Svenljunga, Tranemo and Ulricehamn Municipalities. Smaller parts of

Falköping Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010. History The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), and ...

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them th ...

Gislaved Gislaved () is a locality and the seat of Gislaved Municipality, Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötl ...

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

, Hylte and Varberg Municipalities are also part of the drainage basin. Within the basin 64 percent of the area is forest, 6 percent lakes, 7 percent bogs, 11 percent fields and 12 percent other. The largest lakes within the basin are Åsunden (33,9 km²), Fegen (24,2), Sämsjön (9,2), Lönern (7,7) och Kalven (6,6). In total there is about 200 km² of lakes within the basin. The water flow at Yngeredsfors Power Station has been kept record of. It was on average 37,2 m³/s during the years 1909-1967. The maximum flow was 275 m³/s, while the minimum flow was about 5–7 m³/s. Panorama Ätran

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atran Rivers of Halland County Götaland