Ätran is a
Swedish river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
. The river is about long, and has its source in
Gullered,
Västergötland, at a height of above sea level. The river has its mouth in
Falkenberg,
Halland, where the river enters
Kattegat.
The
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which 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, ...
covers an area of , mostly consisting of forest. The river is well known as a good place for fishing. It is comparatively unpolluted.
A historic road, Redvägen, followed the river, along which several medieval battles took place.
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, it is about 1 to 2 meters deep and 6 to 10 meters wide. As the tributaries named ''Lillån'' join the river, it grows considerably in size.
[Nordisk familjebok: Ätran](_blank)
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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 Falkenberg, Svenljunga, Tranemo and Ulricehamn Municipalities. Smaller parts of Falköping, Borås, Gislaved, Mark, Hylte, and Varberg Municipalities are also part of the drainage basin. Within the basin, 64 percent of the area is forest, 6 percent is lakes, 7 percent is bogs, 11 percent is fields, and 12 percent is other.
The largest lakes within the basin are Åsunden (33.9 km2), Fegen (24.2), Sämsjön (9.2), Lönern (7.7) and Kalven (6.6). In total, there are about 200 km2 of lakes within the basin. A record of the water flow at Yngeredsfors Power Station has been kept; it was on average 37.2 m3/s from 1909 to 1967. The maximum flow was 275 m3/s, while the minimum flow was between 5 and 7 m3/s.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atran
Rivers of Halland County
Götaland