The Doubs (; frp, Dubs; german: Dub) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

in far eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

which strays into western

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is a left-bank tributary of the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name d ...

. It rises near

Mouthe Mouthe () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. The town is known for having the coldest recorded temperature in France. Geography The town is located south of Pontarlier in the Jura Mou ...

in the western

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...

, at and its mouth is at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, a village and commune in

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

at about above sea level. It is the tenth-longest river in France. The most populous settlement of the basin lies on its banks,

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

. Its course includes a small waterfall and a narrow lake.

Course

From its source in

it flows northeast: a few kilometers north of the French-Swiss border, then to form the border for less distance, about 40 km. North of the Swiss town of

Saint-Ursanne Saint-Ursanne is an old town and a former municipality of the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura, Switzerland which has preserved much of its medieval character. The town contains many historical buildings, including a Romanesque abbey c ...

it turns west then southwest. South-east of

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

it adopts a southwest striation or fault of the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...

, flowing so over greater distance than the flow it has traced before. It then flows into the

at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs about northeast of

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; h ...

. The shape of the course resembles the silhouette of a

terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...

sitting upright, leaning right, with the upper part of a northeastern corner "ear" the only zone in Switzerland, there reaching

. In that country it borders or crosses the cantons Jura and

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (Fra ...

Waterfalls and lake

The falls known as the Saut du Doubs is on the French-Swiss border. Nearby, the river, dammed up by landslide debris, forms the long, wide, winding lake, (le) Lac des Brenets. The -high Doubs Falls are at the lake's end. The falls can be reached on foot or by passenger boat.myswitzerland.com
/ref> The Doubs flows through the following

Departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

Cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swis ...

, and cities: *

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Pontarlier Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France near the Swiss border. History Pontarlier occupies the ancient Roman station o ...

(CH) * Jura (CH):

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

* Jura (F): Dole *

(F): Verdun-sur-le-Doubs Tributaries include: * Loue * Dessoubre * Allan The river forms several lakes: * Lac de Saint-Point (elevation ) near

Pontarlier Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France near the Swiss border. History Pontarlier occupies the ancient Roman station o ...

Lac des Brenets __NOTOC__ Lac des Brenets (Swiss name) or Lac de Chaillexon (French name) is a lake on the river Doubs on the border of Switzerland and France. Characteristics The depression in which the lake lies was formed by the movements of a glacier, whi ...

(elevation ) *

Lac de Moron __NOTOC__ Lac de Moron is a reservoir formed by damming the river Doubs on the border of France and Switzerland. It can be reached from Les Planchettes or Les Brenets in the Canton of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and from Le Barboux in the Doubs depa ...

(elevation ) * Lac de Biaufond (elevation ) Lac des Brenets 2008

Floods and seasonal variation

The rate of flow of the Doubs is very seasonally variable. The flooding or well-watered season can stretch from September to May, caused by heavy rains or by quick melting of snow from the Jura mountains. At its mouth, the discharge rate can vary from as low as to over during floods. In

, the largest floods have been in 1852 (), in 1896 () and in 1910.

Hydroelectricity

As a mountain river with substantial discharge, the Doubs has been used for electricity generation. Among several hydroelectric stations, the most important are the Dam of Châtelot, tall, and the Dam of Refrain, tall.

In popular culture

The river is mentioned sixteen times in Stendhal's novel '' The Red and the Black'' (''Le rouge et le noir'').

References