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River

Chiers

112 km from source to mouth · France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

FranceBelgiumLuxembourgFrance, Belgium and LuxembourgFlows into Meuse

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

112km

Average flow

31m³/s

Basin

2,222km²

Drop

110m

from 261 m to 151 m

Countries

3

The journey

From source to mouth

112 km of river and 22 stops on the way: 19 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

261 m151 m
Oberkornat 261 m0 km
Longwy14,695 people7 km
Longuyon5,773 people28 km
Othaintributary53 km
Tontributary53 km
Blagny1,267 people90 km
Carignan3,249 people92 km
Meuseat 151 m112 km
0255075100112 km
  1. 0 kmOberkornat 261 m
  2. 0 kmAthus8,028 people
  3. 0 kmLamadelaine3,219 people
  4. 1 kmRodange7,774 people
  5. 1 kmAubange14,932 people
  6. 2 kmSaulnes2,529 people
  7. 4 kmLonglaville2,457 people
  8. 4 kmMont-Saint-Martin8,509 people
  9. 6 kmHerserange4,438 people
  10. 7 kmLongwy14,695 people
  11. 8 kmMexy2,056 people
  12. 10 kmRéhon3,287 people
  13. 13 kmLexy3,107 people
  14. 28 kmLonguyon5,773 people
  15. 53 kmOthaintributary
  16. 53 kmTontributary
  17. 55 kmMontmédy2,188 people
  18. 67 kmLoisontributary
  19. 90 kmBlagny1,267 people
  20. 92 kmCarignan3,249 people
  21. 103 kmPouru-Saint-Remy1,153 people
  22. 107 kmDouzy1,517 people
  23. 112 kmBazeilles2,108 people
  24. 112 kmMeuseat 151 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Luxembourg, France and Belgian border, mouth in Meuse river

At the mouth it carries 31 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 82 seconds. It drops from 261 m to 151 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,222 km², about the size of KM. 381,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to February. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • AubangeLargest city on its banks · 14,932 people
  • Luxembourg-Findel International Airport (LUX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 30 km from the cityCar hire at LUX airport (Luxembourg)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Chiers, month by month

Highest water: from December to February

Best months to visit: from May to September.

120
1°88 mmJan
110
3°76 mmFeb
83
6°73 mmMar
50
9°61 mmApr
34
13°74 mmMay
28
16°81 mmJun
24
17°74 mmJul
25
17°80 mmAug
26
15°71 mmSep
39
10°73 mmOct
69
5°89 mmNov
110
2°98 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 24 m³/s in the lowest month to 120 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Chiers: the basin in numbers

6,386 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 381,000people live in the basin
  • 59/km²people per km²
  • 301maverage altitude of the basin
  • 849mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 9.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 6%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 17% Forest
  • 30% Cropland
  • 24% Pasture
  • 3% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Chiers: what you find on the way

  • 15Dams
  • 17Weirs
  • 3Locks
  • 2Waterfalls
  • 2Boat ramps

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Chiers in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 5mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (5)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mont St. Jean12 km away410m
  2. Gaalgebierg6.7 km away401m
  3. Zolwerknapp3.8 km away422m
  4. Titelberg4.7 km away397m
  5. Tattebierg13 km away316m

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Chiers: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Chiers: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth11 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Chiers in pictures

Chiers Charency-Vezin
Cayambe · CC BY-SA 3.0
2022-01-12 - Confluence de la Crusnes et de la Chiers à Longuyon (F-54) 01
Paul.schrepfer · CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-12 - Confluence de la Crusnes et de la Chiers à Longuyon (F-54) 02
Paul.schrepfer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ton-Chiers
Boerkevitz · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (9)

Also: Othain, Loison, Aulnois, Ton, Crusnes, Thonne, Marche, Messancy, Brüll

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q635969) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit