River Cher: River in central France

It is a left tributary of the Loire River. It flows through several regions of France.

Cher Cher  (French)
The Cher
Location
Country	France
Physical characteristics
Source
- location	Massif Central
- elevation	762 m (2,500 ft)
Mouth
- location	Loire
- coordinates	47°20′33″N 0°28′49″E / 47.34250°N 0.48028°E / 47.34250; 0.48028
Length	367.8 km (228.5 mi)
Basin size	13,718 km2 (5,297 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	104 m3/s (3,700 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Loire→ Atlantic Ocean

The Cher and Loir-et-Cher departments are named after this river.

The Cher is 367.8 kilometres (228.5 miles) long. Its drainage basin covers 13,920 square kilometres (5,375 square miles).

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 92.60 m³/s (3,270 cu ft/s) at Tours, Indre-et-Loire (1966 - 2017), near its mouth.

Average monthly discharge (m³/s) at Tours

Course

The Cher starts in the Massif Central, in the Mérinchal municipality, Creuse department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It starts at an altitude of about 715 metres (2,346 feet).

The Cher flows, in general, to the northwest. It goes through the following regions, departments and communes:

• Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
  • Creuse: Auzances.
• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
  • Puy-de-Dôme: Château-sur-Cher.
  • Allier: Montluçon, Vallon-en-Sully, Meaulne.
• Centre-Val de Loire region
  • Cher: Ainay-le-Vieil, Bouzais, Saint-Amand-Montrond, Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, Colombiers, Corquoy, Crézançay-sur-Cher, Drevant, Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, Farges-Allichamps, Foëcy, La Groutte, Lapan, Lunery, Méry-sur-Cher, Nozières, Orval, La Perche, Quincy, Saint-Florent-sur-Cher, Saint-Caprais, Saint-Georges-de-Poisieux, Saint-Georges-sur-la-Prée, Saint-Loup-des-Chaumes, Thénioux, Vallenay, Venesmes, Vierzon
  • Loir-et-Cher : Angé, Bourré, La Chapelle-Montmartin, Châtillon-sur-Cher, Châtres-sur-Cher, Châteauvieux, Couddes, Faverolles-sur-Cher, Gièvres, Mareuil-sur-Cher, Mennetou-sur-Cher, Monthou-sur-Cher, Montrichard, Pouillé,Selles-sur-Cher, Saint-Aignan, Saint-Georges-sur-Cher, Saint-Julien-sur-Cher, Seigy, Thésée, Villefranche-sur-Cher.
  • Indre : Chabris
  • Indre-et-Loire : Athée-sur-Cher, Azay-sur-Cher, Bléré, Chenonceaux, Chisseaux, Civray-de-Touraine, La Croix-en-Touraine, Dierre, Larçay, La Riche, Saint-Avertin, Saint-Genouph, Savonnières, Tours, Véretz, Villandry.

At its end, the Cher flows into the Loire River at the bec du Cher ("beak of the Cher") in the Regional nature park Loire-Anjou-Touraine (Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine) in Villandry. That is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the city of Tours, in the Indre-et-Loire department, at 38 metres (125 feet) of altitude.

The main tributaries, with a length greater than 50 km, of the Cher are:

•  
  The Cher at Villeneuve-sur-Cher.
•  
  Château de Chenonceau over the Cher river.
•  
  Bridge over the Cher in Saint-Florent-sur-Cher.
•  
  The Cher river at Saint-Aignan.
•  
  The Cher river at Montrichard.

• List of rivers of France