- Saar River
Infobox River | river_name = Saar
caption = Saar loop at Mettlach.
origin =Vosges mountains
mouth = Moselle
coord|49|42|5|N|6|34|11|E|name=Moselle-Saar|display=inline,title
basin_countries =France ,Germany
length = 246 km
elevation = ±800 m
discharge = 75 m³/s
watershed = 7,431 km²The Saar (French: "Sarre") is ariver in northeasternFrance and westernGermany , and a right tributary of theMoselle River . It rises in theVosges mountains on the border ofAlsace and Lorraine, with two headstreams ("Sarre Rouge" and "Sarre Blanche", united inLorquin ), that both start nearMont Donon , the highest peak of the northern Vosges. After 246 km (126 km inFrance and 120 km inGermany ) the Saar flows into theMoselle River at Konz (Rhineland-Palatinate ), having a catchment area of 7,431 km².In former times, the Saar was very important for the Saarland industries of
coal ,iron andsteel . Raw materials and finished products were shipped on it by water via theSaar Coal Canal , theMarne-Rhine Canal and theRhine , for instance, to theRuhrgebiet or the port ofRotterdam . Although the German part of the Saar has been upgraded to awaterway by deepening, construction of sluices and straightening, there is no significant shipping traffic.The Saar flows through the following
departments of France ,states of Germany and towns:
*Moselle (F):Abreschviller (Sarre Rouge),Lorquin ,Sarrebourg ,Fénétrange
*Bas-Rhin (F):Sarre-Union
*Moselle (F):Sarralbe ,Sarreguemines
*Saarland (D):Saarbrücken ,Völklingen ,Wadgassen ,Bous ,Saarlouis , Dillingen,Merzig
*Rhineland-Palatinate (D):Saarburg ,Konz .On the banks of the Saar is the
UNESCO -World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte . AtMettlach the Saar passes the well-knownSaar loop .Important tributaries of the Saar
*
Blies
*Nied
*Prims Hydrology
* Length: 246 km, (126 in France, 120 km in Germany)
* Catchment area: 7,431 km²References
*http://www.geoportail.fr
* [http://sandre.eaufrance.fr/app/chainage/courdo/htm/A9--0100.php?cg=A9--0100 The Saar (Sarre) at the Sandre database]
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