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| Sorgue | |
|---|---|
 The town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Vaucluse, on the Sorgue. | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | France |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Fontaine de Vaucluse |
| • coordinates | 43°55′04″N 5°07′58″E / 43.9179°N 5.1327°E |
| Mouth | Ouvèze |
• coordinates | 44°02′20″N 4°53′56″E / 44.0388°N 4.8989°E |
| Length | 30 km (19 mi) |
| Basin size | 1,230 km2 (470 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 18.10 m3/s (639 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Ouvèze→ Rhône→ Mediterranean Sea |
| Tributaries | |
| • right | Nesque |
The Sorgue is a river in Southeastern France lying between the foothills of the Alps and the Rhône. It is 30.4 km (18+7⁄8 mi) long.[1] Its source is near the town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Vaucluse department. It is the biggest spring in France and the fifth biggest in the world.[attribution needed]
The Sorgue divides into two river courses at L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, at a point on the river called the Partage des Eaux, then further downstream it divides into dozens of separate waterways with different names, such as Sorgue de l’Isle, Sorgue de Velleron, Sorgue de Monclar, Sorgue de la Faible.
All these arms of the Sorgue flow along the plain of the Sorgues, between L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Avignon. The two largest streams, the Sorgue of Velleron and the Sorgue d'Entraigues, rejoin with one another and enter the Ouvèze at Bédarrides. The Canal de Vaucluse, which is the third-largest river course, joins with the Ouvèze at Sorgues, and flows into the Rhône at Avignon.