River · Andorra
Gran Valira
Gran Valira is the longest river in Andorra, a tiny country high in the Pyrenees. It flows into the Segre near La Seu d'Urgell and reaches the Mediterranean Sea through the Ebro.
Picture credit: José Luis Moncada (Public domain) · Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga) (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Gran Valira?
The river starts here: Pyrenees of Andorra, where two mountain streams meet.
It ends in the Segre at La Seu d'Urgell, then on through the Ebro to the Mediterranean Sea.
Countries on the river: Andorra.
The story behind it
Andorra is one of the smallest countries in Europe, and the Gran Valira is its main river. It is formed where two mountain streams, the Valira del Nord and the Valira d'Orient, meet in the middle of the country. The water is cold and clear because it comes from snow on the high slopes of the Pyrenees. Almost every town in Andorra sits along the valley, so the river passes houses, ski lifts, shops and old stone bridges. Trout live in the quiet pools, and dippers hunt for insects under the surface. After heavy rain or fast snowmelt the river can swell quickly and roar between its walls. Experts do not always agree on how long the Gran Valira really is, because some measurements start at one headstream and some at the other.
Questions children ask
How long is the Gran Valira?
The Gran Valira is about 35 kilometres long. That is short compared with the great rivers of the world, but it is still the longest river in Andorra.
Which countries does the Gran Valira flow through?
Where does the Gran Valira flow into?
It joins the Segre near La Seu d'Urgell, just over the border in Spain. From there the water travels on through the Ebro and finally reaches the Mediterranean Sea.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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