Aude (river)

Aude
The Aude at Carcassonne
Native name	L'Aude (f)
Country	France
Basin
Main source	Les Angles, Lac d'Aude, Massif du Carlit, Pyrénées, France 2,136 m (7,008 ft)
River mouth	Fleury/Vendres, France, Mediterranean Sea 0 m (0 ft) 43°12′45″N 3°14′25″E / 43.21250°N 3.24028°E / 43.21250; 3.24028 (Mediterranean Sea-Aude)Coordinates: 43°12′45″N 3°14′25″E / 43.21250°N 3.24028°E / 43.21250; 3.24028 (Mediterranean Sea-Aude)
Basin size	6,074 square kilometres (2,345 sq mi) total and 4,900 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi) above Coursan
Physical characteristics
Length	224.1 km (139.2 mi)
Discharge	Average rate: 43.6 m3/s (1,540 cu ft/s) at Moussan
Features
Tributaries	Left: the Cesse, the Fresquel, the Orbiel, the Argent-Double, the Trapel, the Sou de Val de Daigne Right: the Orbieu, the Sals, the Lauquet

The Aude (French: [od]; Occitan: [ˈawðe]; Latin Atax) is a river of southern France that is 224 kilometres (139 mi) long. Its source is in the Pyrenees mountains then runs to Carcassonne and finally reaches the Mediterranean Sea near Narbonne. The river is navigable by raft or canoe for nearly all of its length. It is registered as essential to the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

The river gave its name to the Aude department.

In antiquity, the Aude was called Atax by the Romans. Some authors in antiquity called the river Narbôn (e.g. Polybius).

In 1342 the Roussillon Cartulary of Alart called it the Auda or the Ribera d'Aude. In the Middle Ages the terms Adice, again Atax, Fluvium Atacis, Flumine Atace, Flumen Ataze, and Juxta Aditum fluvium were also used to designate the Aude. In all likelihood the current name comes from a gradual evolution of Atax given by Strabo (in his Geography, Book IV), a word borrowed from the Gallic term atacos meaning "spirited" or "very fast".

The river has its source in the Massif of Carlit at the Lac d'Aude at an elevation of 2,185 metres (7,169 ft) in the commune of Les Angles (department of Pyrénées-Orientales) and flows parallel to the Tet. The Col de la Quillane, elevation 1,713 metres (5,620 ft), marks the boundary of the watershed. The river then flows into the Mediterranean Sea a few kilometres from Narbonne at Grau de Vendres (near Cabanes-de-Fleury) on the border between the departments of Aude and Hérault.