Ticino (river)

Ticino
The Ticino and the Ponte Coperto of Pavia (originally medieval in date, rebuilt in 1950 after the destruction due to war bombing)
Native name	Tesin (Lombard)
Location
Country	Switzerland, Italy
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Val Bedretto, Ticino, Switzerland
• elevation	about 2,478 m (8,100 ft)
Mouth	Po
• location	south-east of Pavia, Italy
• coordinates	45°08′38″N 9°14′12″E / 45.14389°N 9.23667°E / 45.14389; 9.23667
Length	248 km (154 mi)
Basin size	7,228 km2 (2,791 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	348 m3/s or 12,300 cu ft/s
• minimum	54 m3/s or 1,900 cu ft/s
• maximum	5,000 m3/s or 180,000 cu ft/s
Discharge
• location	Bellinzona
• average	70 m3/s or 2,500 cu ft/s (MQ)
• minimum	14.5 m3/s or 510 cu ft/s (1Q)
• maximum	906 m3/s or 32,000 cu ft/s (mHQ), 1,500 m3/s or 53,000 cu ft/s (HHQ)
Basin features
Progression	Po→ Adriatic Sea

The river Ticino (/tɪˈtʃiːnoʊ/ titch-EE-noh, Italian: [tiˈtʃiːno]; Lombard: Tesin; French and German: Tessin; Latin: Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows.

It is one of the four major rivers taking their source in the Gotthard region, along with the Rhône, Reuss and Rhine.^[1] The river rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland at the frontier between the cantons of Valais and Ticino right below the Nufenen Pass, is fed by the glaciers of the Alps and later flows through Lake Maggiore, which traverses the border to Italy. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream (along the Ticino) from Pavia.^[2] It is about 248 kilometres (154 mi) long. The stretch of river between Lake Maggiore and the confluence in the Po is included in the Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino, a Nature reserve included by UNESCO in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.^[3]