Aare | |
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The Aare at Bern
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Drainage basin of the Aare
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Country | Switzerland |
Cantons | Bern, Solothurn, Aargau |
Settlements | Meiringen (BE), Interlaken (BE), Thun (BE), Münsingen, Muri bei Bern, Bern, Bremgarten bei Bern, Aarberg (BE), Büren a.A. (BE), Solothurn (SO), Aarwangen (BE), Aarburg (BE), Olten (SO), Niedergösgen (SO), Schönenwerd (SO), Aarau (AG), Wildegg (AG), Brugg (AG), Windisch (AG), Döttingen (AG), Klingnau (AG) |
Basin features | |
Main source |
Unteraar Glacier, Bernese Highlands 1,940 m (6,360 ft) 46°33′48″N 8°25′57″E / 46.56341°N 8.43259°E |
River mouth |
Rhine below Koblenz, Aargau 311 m (1,020 ft) |
Progression | Rhine–North Sea |
Basin size | 17,779 km2 (6,865 sq mi) |
Tributaries | |
Waterbodies | Oberaarsee, Grimselsee, Räterichsbodensee, Lake Brienz, Lake Thun, Wohlensee, Lake Biel, Stausee Niederried, Klingnauer Stausee |
Physical characteristics | |
Length | 288.2 kilometres (179.1 mi) |
Discharge |
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The Aare (German pronunciation: [ˈaːrə]) or Aar is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about 295 kilometres (183 mi), during which distance it descends 1,565 m (5,135 ft), draining an area of 17,779 km2 (6,865 sq mi), almost entirely within Switzerland, and accounting for close to half the area of the country, including all of Central Switzerland.
There are more than 40 hydroelectric plants along the course of the Aare River.
The river's name dates to at least the La Tène period, and it is attested as Nantaror "Aare valley" in the Berne zinc tablet.
The name was Latinized as Arula/Arola/Araris.
The Aare rises in the great Aargletschers (Aare Glaciers) of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Bern and west of the Grimsel Pass. The Finsteraargletscher and Lauteraargletscher come together to form the Unteraargletscher (Lower Aare-Glacier), which is the main source of water for the Grimselsee. The Oberaargletscher (Upper Aare-Glacier) feeds the Oberaarsee, which also flows into the Grimselsee. The Aare river leaves the Grimselsee just to the east to the Grimsel Hospice, below the Grimsel Pass, and then flows northwest through the Haslital, forming on the way the magnificent Handegg Waterfall, 46 m (151 ft), past Guttannen.