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 ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, a left-bank
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the Seine. It is long. The river gives its name to the
Yonne
Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
''. It rises in the
Nièvre
Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.Morvan
The Morvan (historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or escar ...
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
Montereau-Fault-Yonne (), or simply Montereau, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
Geography
Montereau-Fault-Yonne is situated at the confluence of the rivers Yonne and Seine, 70& ...
.
The Yonne flows through the following ''départements'' and towns:
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Nièvre
Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.Château-Chinon, Clamecy
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Yonne
Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...
:
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
Joigny
Joigny () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
It is located on the banks of the river Yonne.
History
The current city, originally known as Joviniacum in Latin, was founded during Roman times ...
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...
:
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
Montereau-Fault-Yonne (), or simply Montereau, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
Geography
Montereau-Fault-Yonne is situated at the confluence of the rivers Yonne and Seine, 70& ...
The main tributaries of the Yonne are the Vanne, the Armançon, the
Serein
The Serein () is a river of eastern France. It is the main waterway of the Chablis wine district in Burgundy. It is long. The Serein is not navigable.
Origin of the name
''Serein'' is the French word for "serene". This may reflect the placid n ...
The river was historically used for ''flottage'', or the floating of
raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...
s of timber from the Morvan forest to serve the needs of the capital, Paris. It was bypassed as a rafting waterway by the
Canal du Nivernais
The Canal du Nivernais links the Loire with the Seine, following approximately the course of the river Yonne in a south to north direction. It first climbs northeast and north to cross the Morvan watershed, then roughly follows the course of the ...
in 1841, from near its source at Corbigny down to Auxerre.
In 1834 the engineer Charles Poirée had successfully tested his design for a needle weir, and this construction technique was adopted on the river Yonne. The first lock was built in the 1840s, the others from 1861. The locks were enlarged to Freycinet standards in the late 19th century, then again to their current dimensions after World War II.
Navigation
The navigable river Yonne extends for , from Auxerre (junction with the
Canal du Nivernais
The Canal du Nivernais links the Loire with the Seine, following approximately the course of the river Yonne in a south to north direction. It first climbs northeast and north to cross the Morvan watershed, then roughly follows the course of the ...
) to the confluence with the Seine. At Laroche-Migennes (PK 23), the Yonne connects with the
Canal de Bourgogne
The Canal de Bourgogne (English: Canal of Burgundy or Burgundy Canal) is a canal in the Burgundy historical region in east-central France. It connects the Yonne at Migennes with the Saône at Saint-Jean-de-Losne. Construction began in 1775 and wa ...
. There are 9 locks on the river on the first section to Laroche-Migennes, the remaining 17 on the more gently-sloping lower course of the river.
See also
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Rivers of France
This is a list of rivers that are at least partially in France. The rivers are grouped by sea or ocean. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. Some rive ...
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List of canals in France
This is a list of the navigable canals and rivers in France. For reference purposes, all waterways are listed, including many that have been abandoned for navigation, mostly in the period 1925-1955, but some in later years. Although several source ...