Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...
regions in western France. It is a left-bank tributary of the
Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
It rises in the so ...
. Its total length is . Its source is in the
Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...
department, near Secondigny. It flows from south to north through the departments and towns listed here, reaching the river Loire in the city of
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
. That city gives it the name Sèvre ''Nantaise'', distinguishing it from the Sèvre Niortaise further south. Its longest tributaries are the Moine and the Petite Maine.
Departments and communes along its course
This list is ordered from source to mouth:
*
Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...
Maine-et-Loire
Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indr ...
Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
The complete list is on the French page for this river.
Navigation
The river is navigable over a length of from the village of Monnières to the confluence. It has a horseshoe weir (Chaussée Des Moines) and lock at Vertou, and a tidal sluice open to boats an hour before and after high tide at Pont-Rousseau, in the suburbs of Nantes.
The river is an important resource for tourism in the region. Beyond the navigable section, the river is a popular destination for canoeists.
Its left-bank tributary the Petite Maine is also navigable over a length of , up to the first disused lock and weir.