Douro

Douro
*Duero* (Spanish)
*Douro* (Portuguese)
Douro; Duero (Spanish); Douro (Portuguese)
	The river flowing through the Portuguese wine region, designated as a World Heritage Site.
Location
Country	Spain, Portugal
Physical characteristics
Source	Picos de Urbión
• location	Sistema Ibérico, Duruelo de la Sierra, Soria, Castile and León, Spain
• coordinates	42°0′38″N 2°52′49″W / 42.01056°N 2.88028°W
• elevation	2,157 m (7,077 ft)
Mouth	Foz do Douro
• location	Atlantic Ocean, Porto, Greater Porto, Norte, Portugal
• coordinates	41°8′36″N 8°40′10″W / 41.14333°N 8.66944°W
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	897 km (557 mi)
Basin size	98,400 km2 (38,000 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Porto
• average	700 m3/s (25,000 cu ft/s)
• maximum	17,000 m3/s (600,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Pocinho
• average	442 m3/s (15,600 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Tera, Rituerto, Riaza, Duratón, Cega, Adaja, Tormes, Huebra, Águeda, Côa, Torto, Távora, Varosa, Bestança, Paiva, Arda, Inha
• right	Pisuerga, Valderaduey, Esla, Sabor, Tua, Corgo, Tâmega, Sousa

The Douro (UK: /ˈdʊəroʊ, ˈdʊəruː/, US: /ˈdɔːruː, ˈdɔːroʊ, ˈdoʊru/,^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Portuguese: [ˈdo(w)ɾu]; Spanish: Duero [ˈdweɾo]; Mirandese: Douro [ˈdowɾʊ]; Latin: Durius) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta Central in Castile and León into northern Portugal. Its largest tributary (carrying a more water than the Douro at their confluence) is the right-bank Esla.^[5] The Douro flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Porto, the second largest city of Portugal.

The scenic Douro railway line runs close to the river. Adjacent areas produce port (a mildly fortified wine) and other agricultural produce. A small tributary of the river has the Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site which is considered important to the archaeological pre-historic patrimony, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Within Spain, it flows through the middle of the autonomous community of Castile and León, with the basin spanning through the northern half of the Meseta Central. The latter includes wine producing areas such as the Ribera del Duero DOP.

^ "Douro". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "Douro". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "Douro" (US) and "Douro". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-07-30.
^ "Douro". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ Fernández-Aláez, M.; Fernández-Aláez, C.; Luis Calabuig, E. de (1992). "The Esla River Basin: From the Cantabrian Mountain to the Duero" (PDF). Limnetica. 8 (1): 131. doi:10.23818/limn.08.12. S2CID 245777871.