Camargue
The Camargue (Occitan: Camarga in classical norm or Camargo in Mistralian norm) is located south of Arles, France, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the River Rhône delta
Geography
With an area of over 930 km² (360 sq. miles), the Camargue is western Europe's largest river delta (technically an island, as it is wholly surrounded by water). It is a vast plain comprising large brine lagoons or étangs, cut off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes which are in turn surrounded by a large cultivated area.
Approximately a third of the Camargue is either lakes or marshland. The central area around the shoreline of the Étang de Vaccarès has been protected as a regional park since 1927, in recognition of its great importance as a haven for wild birds, and was incorporated into the Parc Régional de Camargue in 1972.
The Camargue has a coastline some 30 miles in length and an area of 290 sq. m., of which about a quarter consists of cultivated fertile land. Its average elevation is from 8 ft to 62 feet above sea level. Some of the étangs are remnants of old arms of the river (Remember those oxbow lakes from school geography lessons?). Flooding remains a "problem" across the region. Despite the dikes and embankments, the boundaries of the Camargue are still changed by the River Rhône as it transports huge quantities of silt and mud downstream - some 20 million cubic metres annually. Though constrained by the sea dike, the natural tendency as in all river deltas is for the coastline to move outwards. Aigues Mortes was on the coast when it was built - it was built specifically as sea port in the thirteenth century when France annexed this land. It is now some 5 km (3 miles) inland.
The Camargue lies within the departément of Bouches du Rhône ("Mouths of the Rhône"). In the city of Arles, the River Rhône divides into two branches, the Petit Rhône (Little Rhône) to the...
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