Segre | |
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The Segre in Lleida
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Segre catchment shown within the Ebro basin
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Country | Spain, France, Andorra |
Basin features | |
Main source |
Pyrenees 2,400 m (7,900 ft) 42°24′8″N 2°6′31″E / 42.40222°N 2.10861°E |
River mouth |
Ebro 41°21′42″N 0°18′15″E / 41.36167°N 0.30417°ECoordinates: 41°21′42″N 0°18′15″E / 41.36167°N 0.30417°E |
Physical characteristics | |
Length | 265 km (165 mi) |
The Segre (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈseɣɾə], locally: [ˈseɣɾe]; French: Sègre) is a river tributary to the Ebro (Ebre in Catalan) with a basin comprising territories across three states: France, Andorra and Spain.
The river Segre, known to Romans and Greeks as Sicoris, and to the Arabs of Al-Andalus as Nahr az-Zaytūn (نهر الزيتون, river of Olives) has its sources on the north face of the Pic del Segre or Puigmal de Segre ("Segre's Peak") in the French department Pyrénées-Orientales (historically the comarca of Alta Cerdanya), in the Catalan Pyrenees. It follows a western direction all along the Cerdanya (Cerdagne) Valley, and crosses the town Saillagouse, the Spanish exclave Llívia and Bourg-Madame.
It enters Spain at Puigcerdà and continues west until La Seu d'Urgell, where it meets the Valira River coming from Andorra. From this point it adopts a south-western course across the pre-Pyrenees (with several dams along its gorges) and the western plains of Catalonia. It passes through Balaguer, Lleida and flows into the Ebro at Mequinenza.