The Sil is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

in León ( Castile and León) and

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, a tributary of the Miño. Its total length is . The source of the Sil is in the

Cantabrian Mountains , etymology=Named after the Cantabri , photo=Cordillera Cantábrica vista desde el Castro Valnera.jpg , photo_caption=Cantabrian Mountains parallel to the Cantabrian Sea seen from Castro Valnera in an east-west direction. In the background, ...

in the Leonese town of Villablino. It flows through the provinces of León and

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St James ( Camino de Santiago), and is crossed by t ...

. The largest city on the Sil is

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only ''comarca'' recognized as ...

(León). The Sil flows into the Miño upstream from

Mouth

The river joins the Miño river in Os Peares, in the

province of Ourense Ourense (in Spanish, ''Orense'') is a Spanish province, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, Lugo to the north, León and Zamora, (which both belong to Ca ...

. Generally, the hierarchy between rivers is performed by taking into account which junction has more volume and length. In this case, as with the Esla and Pisuerga with the Duero, the Sil has flows larger than the Miño at the junction. There is a saying that goes, "The Miño has the fame, but the Sil gives it water" (in Spanish, ''El Miño lleva la fama y el Sil le da el agua''). The Sil river also surpasses the Miño in length by about .

Course

The Sil runs through the León districts of Babia,

Laciana Laciana, ''Tsaciana'' in Leonese language, is a comarca in the province of León, Spain. It had 11,904 inhabitants in 2005. The rivers of this comarca flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. Local people speak a certain variant of the Leonese language kn ...

El Bierzo El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includes ...

and La Cabrera, and Ourense

Valdeorras Valdeorras is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense Ourense (in Spanish, ''Orense'') is a Spanish province, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, ...

, among other locations across Villablino,

, O Barco de Valdeorras, A Rúa, Quiroga and

Ribas de Sil Ribas de Sil is a town located in Galicia, in the Spanish province of Lugo. The monastery of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzm ...

Tributaries

* Left bank: Valseco, Boeza, Oza, Cabrera, Bibei, Navea and Mao. * Right bank: Caboalles, Valdeprado, Barredos, Cúa, Burbia, Selmo, Soldón, Lor and Cabe.

Gold deposits

The river has been a rich source of

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Al ...

gold, and was most extensively exploited during the Roman period, following the conquest of north-west Spain by

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

in 25 BC. The upper reaches of the river possessed large placer deposits, and the region around

Las Médulas Las Médulas () is a historic gold-mining site near the town of Ponferrada in the comarca of El Bierzo (province of León, Castile and León, Spain). It was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entir ...

yielded large amounts of gold. It was extracted using

hydraulic mining Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...

, involving the building of numerous aqueducts to expose and wash the alluvial formations.

Etymology

According to Pokorny and to E. Bascuas, "Sil" would belong to the old European hydronymy, derived from the Indoeuropean root ''*sei-'' 'drip, run, humid'.Cf. p. 537 of "La Hidronimia de Galicia: tres estratos ..". http://www.mondonedoferrol.org/estudios-mindonienses/MINDONIENSES%2024%20 rotegidopdf

References