Segre (river)

The Segre (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsɛɣɾə] or [ˈseɣɾe]; French: Sègre) is a river tributary to the Ebro (Ebre in Catalan) with a basin comprising territories across three states: France, Andorra, and Spain. The river Segre, known to Romans and Greeks as Sicoris, and to the Arabs of Al-Andalus as Nahr az-Zaytūn (نهر الزيتون, River of Olives) has its sources on the north face of the Pic del Segre or Puigmal de Segre ("Segre's Peak") in the French department Pyrénées-Orientales (historically the comarca of Alta Cerdanya), in the Catalan Pyrenees. It follows a western direction all along the Cerdanya (Cerdagne) Valley, and crosses the town Saillagouse, the Spanish exclave Llívia, and Bourg-Madame. It enters Spain at Puigcerdà and continues west until La Seu d'Urgell, where it meets the Valira River coming from Andorra. From this point, it adopts a south-western course across the pre-Pyrenees (with several dams along its gorges) and the western plains of Catalonia. It passes through Balaguer, Lleida, and flows into the Ebro at Mequinenza. Among its tributaries: Valira (from Andorra), Noguera Pallaresa, Noguera Ribagorzana, and Cinca.