Var (river)

The Var ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a river located in the southeast of France. It is Template:Convert long.<ref name=sandre>Template:Sandre</ref> Its drainage basin is Template:Convert.<ref name=orema>Bassin versant : Var (Le), Observatoire Régional Eau et Milieux Aquatiques en PACA</ref>

The Var flows through the Alpes-Maritimes département for most of its length, with a short (~15 km or ~9 mi) stretch in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence département. It is a unique case in France of a river not flowing in the département named after it (see Var). This is the result of the Nice Préfecture being too small to be considered a département by itself in the administrative reshuffling of 1860.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hence, some land had to be taken out of neighbouring Var region causing the eponymous département to lose its namesake.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the river had no bridges; it was the border between France and the County of Nice, then part of Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

Name

The river name is attested in Latin as Vārus and in Ancient Greek as Ouãros (Οὐᾶρος). It stems from the Indo-European root *uōr- (earlier *uer-), meaning 'water, river' (cf. Sanskrit vār, Old Norse vari).Template:Sfn

Hydrography

The Var rises near the Col de la Cayolle (2,326 m/7,631 ft), located in the Parc National du Mercantour in the Maritime Alps.The river flows generally southeast to its outflow into the Mediterranean Sea between Nice and Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Its main tributaries are the Cians, the Tinée, the Vésubie, the Coulomp, the Estéron, the Tuébi, the Chalvagne, the Barlatte, the Bourdous and the Roudoule.<ref name="sandre" />

The Var flows through the following départements and towns:

• Alpes-Maritimes: Guillaumes
• Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Entrevaux
• Alpes-Maritimes: Puget-Théniers, Carros, Saint-Laurent-du-Var

References

Template:ReflistBibliography

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