Seine
Seine is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 48.52°, 2.60°
About Seine
The Seine ( sayn, sen; French: [sɛn] ) is a 777-kilometre-long (483 mi) river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre (and Honfleur on the left bank). It is navigable by ocean-going vessels as far as Rouen, 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the sea. Over 60 percent of its length, as far as Burgundy, is negotiable by large barges and most tour boats, and nearly its whole length is available for recreational boating; excursion boats offer sightseeing tours of the river banks in the capital city, Paris.
There are 37 bridges in Paris across the Seine (the most famous of which are the Pont Alexandre III and the Pont Neuf) and dozens more outside the city.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Seine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Seine in Depth
Course
the Seine maritime, "Maritime Seine" from Rouen to the English channel.
Below Rouen, the river passes through the Parc Naturel Régional des Boucles de la Seine Normande, one of France's regional nature parks.
History
The name Seine comes from Gaullish Sēquana, from the Celtic Gallo-Roman goddess of the river, as offerings for her were found at the source. Sometimes it is incorrectly associated with Latin sequor 'follow', but the Celtic word rather seems to derive from the same root as English sea, namely Proto-Indo-European *seikw-, signifying 'to flow' or 'to pour forth'.
On 28 or 29 March 845, an army of Vikings led by a chieftain named Reginherus, which is possibly another name for Ragnar Lothbrok, sailed up the River Seine with siege towers and sacked Paris.
On 25 November 885, another Viking expedition led by Rollo traveled up the River Seine to attack Paris again.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Seine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Seine: Key Facts
| Length | 777 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 500 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 78,650 km² |
| Source | source of the Seine River |
| Mouth | English Channel |
| Drainage system | Seine basin |
| Tributaries | Yonne, Oise, Loing, École, Andelle, Essonne, Aube, Arce |
Facts from Wikidata Q1471 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Seine: Quick Answers
- Where is Seine?
- Seine is located in France, at 48.5243° N, 2.6049° E.
- Are there dams on the Seine?
- No dam on the Seine is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.