The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a

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 wate ...

in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It rises in High-

Bigorre Bigorre ({{IPA-fr, biɡɔʁ; Gascon: ''Bigòrra'') is a region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of t ...

(

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

(

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

) near

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. is known as the ''Adour de Payolle''. At its final stretch, i.e. on its way through Bayonne and a short extent upstream, the river draws the border between the

Northern Basque Country The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country ( eu, Iparralde (), french: Pays basque, es, País Vasco francés) is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitu ...

and

Landes ''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath. ''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word '' ...

regions.

Places along the river

'' Départements'' and towns along the river include: *

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs es, Altos Pirineos; ca, Alts Pirineus alts piɾiˈneʊs English: Upper Pyrenees) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. ...

Bagnères-de-Bigorre Bagnères-de-Bigorre (, literally ''Bagnères of Bigorre''; oc, label= Gascon, Banhèras de Bigòrra ) is a commune and subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées Department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Name The town was known ...

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

Maubourguet Maubourguet (; Gascon: ''Mauborguet'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France, in the Occitanie region. Historically, Maubourguet belonged to the County of Bigorre. The town is situated at the crossing of two m ...

Gers Gers (; oc, Gers or , ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southwestern France. Named after the Gers River, its inhabitants are called the ''Gersois'' and ''Gersoises'' in French. In 2019, it had a population of 191,377.

: Riscle *

Aire-sur-l'Adour Aire-sur-l'Adour (; oc, Aira d'Ador or simply ) is a commune in the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Adour in the wine area of southwest France. It is an episcopal see of the Diocese of Aire and D ...

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

Tarnos Tarnos (; eu, Tarnose; oc, Tarnòs) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Geography Tarnos is in the far southwest corner of the department, 5 km north of Bayonne. Population See also *Commune ...

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlanti ...

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Adour are, from source to mouth: * Adour de Gripp (also ''Adour du Tourmalet'', 15 km) * Adour de Lesponne (19 km) *

Échez The Échez () is a left tributary of the Adour, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in the Southwest of France. It is long. Geography The Échez rises in ''Sère-Lanso'' (east of Lourdes) and flows north along the Adour, which it joins in Maubourguet. ...

(64 km) * Arros (130 km) *

Léez The Léez (''Leez'', ''Lées'', ''Léès'', ''Lees'') is a left tributary of the Adour, in the Southwest of France. It is long. Name This name proceeds from an Aquitanian hydronym ''Lez / Liz''. Geography The Léez rises near Gardères in t ...

(56 km) * Gabas (117 km) *

Midouze The Midouze (; oc, Midosa), is a right tributary of the Adour river, in the Landes, in the Southwest of France. Name The name ''Midouze'' is a portmanteau that fuses the names of the two precursors of the river, the Midou and the Douze. Geog ...

(151 km) *

Louts The Louts (; oc, Lots) is a left tributary of the Adour, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in the Southwest of France. It is long. Name It is documented in medieval Latin as ''Fluvius qui dicitur Lossium''.(''Gallia Christiana'' 12th century; with the u ...

(86 km) *

Luy The Luy is a left tributary of the Adour, in the Landes, in the Southwest of France. It is long, including its right source river ''Luy de France''. Geography The Luy is the union of two neighboring rivers, the Luy de Béarn, which is long ...

(154 km) *

Gave de Pau The Gave de Pau () is a river of south-western France. It takes its name from the city of Pau, through which it flows. The river is long ( including the Gaves réunis), and its source is at the Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees mountains. The ...

(191 km) *

Bidouze The Bidouze is a left tributary of the Adour, in the French Basque Country (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), in the Southwest of France. It is long. Geography The Bidouze rises at the base of ''Eltzarreko Ordokia'' in the Arbailles massif. It drains ...

(82 km) * Aran (48 km) *

Ardanabia The Ardanabia (also known as ''Ardanabie'', ''Ardanavie'', ''Ardanavy'', ''Ardanavia'') is a left tributary of the Adour, in the French Basque Country, in Aquitaine, Southwest France. It is long. Geography The Ardanabia rises in the moors of H ...

(26 km) *

Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by th ...

(79 km)

References

External links

Commission Européenne—Natura 2000: Cartographie du Barthes de l'Adour
�� — ''maps of the Adour and Adour Basin''.
Natura 2000 Sites d'Intérêt Communautaire par la France: Barthes de l'Adour
—
Adour
— — ''website homepage''.

�� — ''"the centrepiece of EU nature & biodiversity policy."'' 01 Rivers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Rivers of Occitania (administrative region) Natura 2000 in France Rivers of Gers Rivers of Hautes-Pyrénées Rivers of Landes (department) Rivers of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Rivers of France Protected areas of the Pyrenees {{France-river-stub