The Saison () or Uhaitz Handia is a left tributary of the

Gave d'Oloron The Gave d'Oloron () is a river of south-western France near the border with Spain. It takes its name from the city Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where it is formed from the rivers Gave d'Aspe and Gave d'Ossau. It joins the Gave de Pau in Peyrehorade ...

river in the

French Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided ...

, (

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon language, Gascon Occitan language, Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; ) is a Departments of France, department located in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the southwest corner of metropolitan ...

), Southwest of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Its general south to north direction provides the axis for the former French province of

Soule Soule (; Basque language, Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; ) is a former viscounty and France, French Provinces of France, province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département in France, départ ...

. It is also known as the Gave de Mauléon. It is long, including its upper courses Zurkaitzegiko erreka and Gave de Larrau.

Geography

The river is formed in Licq-Athérey from the confluence of the Gave de Sainte-Engrâce (from the Pierre-Saint-Martin Cave) and the Gave de Larrau (from the

Pic d'Orhy Mount Orhy ( French), also Ori or Orhi in Spanish and Basque, is a mountain at the border of Navarre and Soule, in the Pyrenees, and is high. It is the westernmost peak above in the entire range. A prominent mountain, it is very important in ...

). It flows north and joins the Gave d'Oloron in

Autevielle-Saint-Martin-Bideren Autevielle-Saint-Martin-Bideren (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Geography Autevielle-Saint-Martin-Bideren is located ...

, downstream from

Sauveterre-de-Béarn Sauveterre-de-Béarn (, literally ''Sauveterre of Béarn''; ; ) is a medieval village perched above the Gave d'Oloron and facing the Pyrenees in south-western France. It is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments ...

Départements and towns

The Saison flows completely within the

department. The riverside towns are

Tardets-Sorholus Tardets-Sorholus (; )ATHARRATZE-SORHOLÜZE

and

Mauléon-Licharre Mauléon-Licharre (; , Occitan: Maulion e Lisharra), or simply Mauléon, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It is the capital of the Soule (''Zuberoa'') historical Basque province. It is home to the ...

Name

The

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

name ''Uhaitz handia'' (or simply ''Uhaitza'') is based on the common word ''uhaitz'' meaning "torrential river" in

Euskara Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque is classified as a language isol ...

. It corresponds to the French word '' gave''. ''-a'' is the article and ''handi'' means ''big''. The enigmatic gascon name ''Saison'' could be a contraction ''season'' with the former name ''Gaison'', itself derived from the variant ''ugaitz'' of ''uhaitz''. Tributary names are also linguistically interesting, with two specific

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

s: * Aphanize: name of tributaries from Montory (''Aphanize'') and from Haux (''Aphanixe''). * Aphahura: leading to the following names: ''Aphaura'' (from Aroue and from Arrast,also graphied ''Aphanire'' following Paul Raymond, ''Dictionnaire topographique du département des Basses-Pyrénées'', 1863. ''Aphura'' (from Alçay), ''Aphuhura'' (from

Aussurucq Aussurucq (; ) is a Commune in France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. The inhabitants are known as ''Altzürükütar''.Rivers of France Rivers of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Rivers of Nouvelle-Aquitaine {{France-river-stub