Douro River

Douro
Douro (Portuguese), Duero (Spanish)
River (Rio/Río)
The river between Porto (right) and Vila Nova de Gaia (left), facing west
Countries	Portugal,  Spain
Source	Picos de Urbión
- location	Sistema Ibérico, Duruelo de la Sierra, Soria, Castile and León, Spain
- elevation	2,157 m (7,077 ft)
- coordinates	42°0′37.92″N 2°52′49.00″W / 42.0105333°N 2.8802778°W / 42.0105333; -2.8802778
Mouth	Foz do Douro
- location	Atlantic Ocean, Porto, Greater Porto, Norte, Portugal
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	41°8′35.74″N 8°40′10.07″W / 41.1432611°N 8.6694639°W / 41.1432611; -8.6694639Coordinates: 41°8′35.74″N 8°40′10.07″W / 41.1432611°N 8.6694639°W / 41.1432611; -8.6694639
Length	897 km (557 mi)
Basin	98,400 km2 (37,992 sq mi)
Discharge	for Porto
- average	700 m3/s (24,720 cu ft/s)
- max	17,000 m3/s (600,349 cu ft/s)
Discharge elsewhere (average)
- Pocinho	442 m3/s (15,609 cu ft/s)

The Douro (Portuguese: Douro [ˈdo(w)ɾu]; Spanish: Duero [ˈdweɾo]; Latin: Durius) is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto.

The Latinized name Durius, likely came from the Celtic tribes that inhabited the area before Roman times: the Celtic root is *dubro-. In modern Welsh, dŵr is "water," as well as dour in modern Breton with cognate dobhar in Irish. In Roman times, the river was personified as a god, Durius.

The Douro vinhateiro (winegrowing), an area of the Douro Valley in Portugal long devoted to vineyards, has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Traditionally, the wine was taken down river in flat-bottom boats called rabelos, to be stored in barrels in cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the river from Porto. In the 1950s and 1960s, dams were built along the river, which ended this river traffic from the upper regions in Spain and along the border. Now Port wine is transported in tanker trucks.