# Tanaro > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tanaro > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tanaro.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanaro > Source revision: 1324705155 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Italian river For the computer game, see [Tanarus (computer game)](/source/Tanarus_(computer_game)). Tanaro Near Alessandria Native name Tane (Piedmontese) Location Country Italy Physical characteristics Source • location Ligurian Alps, on the slopes of Monte Saccarello Mouth • location Po near Bassignana (AL) • coordinates 45°00′20″N 8°46′10″E / 45.00556°N 8.76944°E / 45.00556; 8.76944 Length 276 km (171 mi) Basin size 8,234 km2 (3,179 mi2) Discharge • average 123 m3/s (4,300 cu ft/s) Basin features Progression ‹See Tfd› Po→ Adriatic Sea Tributaries • left Ellero, Stura di Demonte, Borbore, Versa • right Belbo, Bormida The **Tanaro** (Italian pronunciation: [\[ˈtaːnaro\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Italian); [Piedmontese](/source/Piedmontese_language): *Tane* [\[ˈtɑne\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Piedmontese); [Ligurian](/source/Ligurian_language): *Tànau* [\[ˈtana(ɹ)u\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Ligurian); [Latin](/source/Latin_language): *Tanarus*) is a 276-kilometre (171 mi) long [river](/source/River) in northwestern [Italy](/source/Italy). The river begins in the [Ligurian Alps](/source/Ligurian_Alps), near the border with [France](/source/France), and is the most significant right-side tributary to the [Po](/source/Po_River) in terms of length, size of [drainage basin](/source/Drainage_basin) (partly [Alpine](/source/Alps), partly [Apennine](/source/Apennine_Mountains)), and [discharge](/source/Discharge_(hydrology)). ## Geography ### Sources The Tanaro rises at the border between [Piedmont](/source/Piedmont) and [Liguria](/source/Liguria) at the confluence of two smaller streams: the [Tanarello](/source/Tanarello) and the [Negrone](/source/Negrone). The main source of the Tanarello is on the slopes of [Monte Saccarello](/source/Monte_Saccarello) above Monesi, a village belonging to the commune of [Triora](/source/Triora). This mountain straddles the [French](/source/France) [département](/source/D%C3%A9partement) of [Alpes-Maritimes](/source/Alpes-Maritimes), the Piedmontese [province of Cuneo](/source/Province_of_Cuneo) and the Ligurian [province of Imperia](/source/Province_of_Imperia) and marks the juncture of the [watersheds](/source/Drainage_divide) between three [drainage basins](/source/Drainage_basin): the Tanaro itself; the [Roya](/source/Roya_(river)) ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Roia*), which rises in France but enters the sea at [Ventimiglia](/source/Ventimiglia%2C_Italy); and the [Argentina](/source/Argentina_(river)), which flows into the [Ligurian Sea](/source/Ligurian_Sea) at [Taggia](/source/Taggia). The sources of the Negrone are not far from [Punta Marguareis](/source/Punta_Marguareis) and very close to the French border. ### Course The Tanaro flows through the towns of [Ormea](/source/Ormea), Garessio, [Ceva](/source/Ceva), [Alba](/source/Alba_(CN)), [Asti](/source/Asti), and [Alessandria](/source/Alessandria) before flowing into [Po river](/source/Po_river) near [Bassignana](/source/Bassignana) in the [Province of Alessandria](/source/Province_of_Alessandria). At its confluence with the Po, the Tanaro is about 50 km longer than the upper Po,[1] a case similar to the famous [Missouri](/source/Missouri_River) tributary being longer than [Mississippi](/source/Mississippi_River) in the United States. ### Tributaries The main tributaries to the Tanaro are the [Stura di Demonte](/source/Stura_di_Demonte), the [Pesio](/source/Pesio), the [Ellero](/source/Ellero) and the [Borbore](/source/Borbore) from the left and the [Bormida](/source/Bormida_(river)) and the [Belbo](/source/Belbo) from the right. ## Regime The flow is subject to a great seasonal variation. Although the river has an Alpine origin, which is unique among the Po’s right-side tributaries, the Ligurian Alps are of an insufficient elevation and too close to the sea to allow for the formation of [snow fields](/source/Snow_field) or [glaciers](/source/Glaciers) large enough to provide a steady source of water during the summer. Furthermore, the Alpine zone forms only a part of the basin drained by the Tanaro. The seasonal regime of the river is therefore more typical of an Apennine [stream](/source/Stream#Intermittent_and_ephemeral_streams), with a maximum discharge that can reach 1,700 cubic metres per second (60,000 cu ft/s), in spring and autumn and a very low rate of flow in the summer. ## Flood events 1994 floods in [Asti](/source/Asti) The river is highly prone to flooding. During the two-hundred-year period between 1801 and 2001, sections of the Tanaro basin were affected by floods on 136 occasions. The most devastating floods were in November 1994, November 2016, October 2020, when the whole valley was affected by severe flooding. ## History The left bank of the Tanaro River near Asti is the scene of the [Battle of Pollentia](/source/Battle_of_Pollentia) on April 6, 402. ## References - The article draws on material from related articles in the [Italian](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/tanaro), [French](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/tanaro) and [German](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/tanaro) Wikipedias, as retrieved 14 June 2006 - (in Italian) [SUL MONTE SACCARELLO :: Una camminata alla scoperta delle sorgenti del Tanaro](https://web.archive.org/web/20060720195221/http://www.vallidicuneo.net/saccarello_e_tanaro.htm) - Luino, F. (2003). ["Chapter 49: Flooding Vulnerability of a Town in the Tanaro Basin: The Case of Ceva (Piedmont - Northwest Italy)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050525124751/http://www.ccma.csic.es/dpts/suelos/hidro/images/chapter_49_phefra.pdf) (PDF). In V.R.Thorndycraft; G. Benito; M. Barriendos; M.C. Llasat (eds.). *Palaeofloods, Historical Floods and Climatic Variability: Applications in Flood Risk Assessment*. Archived from [the original](http://www.ccma.csic.es/dpts/suelos/hidro/images/chapter_49_phefra.pdf) (PDF) on 2005-05-25. Retrieved 2006-06-18. - Luino F. (1999): “The flood and landslide event of November 4–6, 1994 in Piedmont Region (North-West Italy): causes and related effects in Tanaro Valley”. XXII General Assembly dell’European Geophysical Society, Vienna (Austria). 21–25 April 1997. Ed. Elsevier Science Ltd, Vol. 24, N. 2, p. 123-129. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Tanaro Po, Italy"](http://www.acquabuona.it/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/tanaria14.png). acquabuona.it. 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009. ## See also - [List of rivers of Italy](/source/List_of_rivers_of_Italy) Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Tanaro](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Tanaro). Authority control databases International VIAF GND Geographic Pleiades Other Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tanaro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanaro) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanaro?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.