River · Switzerland, France
Rhône
The Rhône starts at a glacier high in the Swiss Alps, flows through Lake Geneva and then crosses France towards the south. Near Arles it splits into the Camargue delta and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Picture credit: Chiugoran (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Daniel Schwen (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Hilader (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Rhône?
The river starts here: Rhône Glacier, Valais, Switzerland (2 208 m).
It ends in the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lion) through the Camargue delta.
Countries on the river: Switzerland, France.
The story behind it
The Rhône begins at the Rhône Glacier in the Swiss canton of Valais. The glacier is shrinking: since 1850 it has lost about 60 percent of its ice. In summer people cover part of it with white fleece blankets to slow the melting. The young river rushes down the Valais and flows into Lake Geneva. On average its water stays in the lake for about 11 years before it leaves again at Geneva. In Lyon the Rhône meets its biggest tributary, the Saône. Further south, in Avignon, stands a famous broken bridge. Only four of its 22 arches are left, because floods kept damaging it, and a well-known children's song, Sur le pont d'Avignon, is about it. Near Arles the river splits into two arms and forms the Camargue delta. Greater flamingos wade in its salty lagoons, and white Camargue horses roam the marshes.
Questions children ask
How long is the Rhône?
The Rhône is about 813 km long; some sources give about 807 km, depending on the measurement. Roughly a third of it lies in Switzerland and the rest in France.
Where does the Rhône begin?
It begins at the Rhône Glacier in the canton of Valais, at 2 208 metres above sea level. Because the glacier is melting, part of it is covered with white blankets in summer.
What is the Camargue?
The Camargue is the delta of the Rhône, between the river's two arms and the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the few places in Europe where greater flamingos live, and white horses roam its marshes.
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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