The Vis is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in south-central

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 ...

, in the Occitanie administrative region. It is a right tributary of the

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

. Its source is in the

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

, near the village of

Alzon Alzon () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. The commune is located in the south of the Cévennes National Park, in the upper Vis river valley. Geography Climate Alzon has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classifica ...

. It flows between the

Causse The Causses () are a group of limestone plateaux (700–1,200 m) in the Massif Central. They are bordered to the north-west by the Limousin and the Périgord uplands, and to the east by the Aubrac and the Cévennes. Large river gorges cut through ...

Larzac Larzac (, ), also known as the Causse of Larzac (French: ''Causses, Causse du Larzac''; ), is a limestone karst plateau in the south of the Massif Central, France, situated between Millau (in the Departments of France, department of Aveyron) ...

and the

Causse de Blandas Causse de Blandas is a limestone karst plateau in the south of the Massif Central in the Gard department, in southern France. Geography The communes of Causse de Blandas are: * Blandas * Montdardier * Rogues Comunes partially located on the caus ...

into the

and

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

Origin of the name

The name "Vis" derives from the old

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

root "Vir" which means "river", and which can be found in the name of many rivers in France such as the

Vire Vire () is a town and a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Vire Normandie. Geography The town is located on the river Vire. Much o ...

Towns along the river

The Vis flows through the following communes from source to mouth: *

Arrigas Arrigas is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Geography The village is in the Cévennes, above the D999 road between Le Vigan and Alzon. History Arrigas possesses a number of Megalithic remains including the dolmen of Arrig ...

Campestre-et-Luc Campestre-et-Luc (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 350 communes of the Gard department of France. The communes cooperate in the fo ...

* Blandas * Vissec * Saint-Maurice-Navacelles * Rogues *

Gorniès Gorniès (; ) is a commune in the Hérault département in the Occitanie region in southern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and terri ...

* Saint-Laurent-le-Minier * Saint-Julien-de-la-Nef * Cazilhac

Hydrology and water quality

The Vis takes its source on the Saint-Guiral mount.The Vis on Trekearth
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References

*
Cirque de Navacelles and the gorges of the Vis
*
Banque Hydro - Station Y2035010 - La Vis à Saint-Laurent-le-Minier (Synthèse)
Rivers of France Rivers of Occitania (administrative region) Rivers of Gard Rivers of Hérault 1Vis {{France-river-stub