Somme River

The Somme is a river in the north of France, in the Hauts-de-France region, and gives its name to the department called Somme.

Somme River
Length	245 km (152 mi)

The name of the river is of Celtic origins, and refers to the tranquility of the river over much of its course. The river is known for the Battle of the Somme, which was an important battle of the First World War.

Geography

The Somme river has a length of 245 km (152.2 mi), and a drainage basin with an area of 6,550 km² (2,529 sq mi).

Course

Source of the Somme in Fonsomme

The source of the Somme is in the Fonsomme commune (Aisne), at an altitude of about 86 m (282 ft).

The Somme passes through the departments and cities of:

• Aisne : Fonsomme, Saint-Quentin
• Somme : Ham, Péronne, Corbie, Amiens, Abbeville, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme

The Somme river flows through 49 communes.

Finally, it flows into the English Channel near Saint-Valery-sur-Somme.

Main tributaries

• Left tributaries
  • Avre - 66.2 km;
  • Selle - 38.9 km;
  • Saint-Landon - 13.2 km;
  • Airaines - 12.8 km;
• Right tributaries
  • Omignon - 32 km;
  • Cologne - 23.2 km;
  • Tortille - 16.1 km;
  • Ancre - 37.4 km;
  • Hallue - 15.8 km;
  • Nièvre - 22 km;
  • Scardon - 12.4 km;

Archaeology

Different archeological finds have been discovered in its valley: The Acheulean culture is named after Saint-Acheul, a suburb of Amiens. Hand axes from the Palaeolithic period were found there, and gave this name to the respective period.

Somme River Media

• 

  The mouth of the Somme in the English Channel

• 

  The estuary is now much smaller than it once was but still extensive.

• 

  La passerelle Samarobriva (briva = pont, Samaro = Somme) avec son centre nautique

• 

  The Marquenterre bird sanctuary at the mouth of the river

• 

  An example of the lakes formed in the fen of the valley bottom. They attract wildfowlers and anglers.

Related pages

• List of rivers of France

Other websites

• Banque Hydro - MEDDE, «Synthèse de la Banque Hydro» Archived 2022-01-07 at the Wayback Machine (in French)