page_title: Minho (river)
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Minho (river) / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Português: Vista da foz do rio Minho a partir de Vila Nova de Cerveira This is a photography of a Site of Community Importance in Portugal with the ID: PTCON0019. Natura2000 entry, EEA entry
context_page_description: The Minho or Miño is the longest river in Galicia, sharing the border with Portugal, with a length of 340 kilometres. By discharge, it is the fourth river of the Iberian peninsula, after the Douro, Ebro and Tagus.
  The Minho waters vineyards and farmland, is used to produce hydroelectric power, and also delineates a section of the Spanish–Portuguese border. In ancient English maps, it appears as Minno.
  The source of the Minho lies north of Lugo in Galicia, in a place called Pedregal de Irimia. After about 73 kilometres, the river passes just south of the walls of this old Roman city, discharging in average 42 m³/s, and flows south through canyons until the valley widens north of Ourense. The river has been harnessed in reservoirs from Portomarín to Frieira. Along its length, it has the following reservoirs: Belesar with 654 cubic hectometres, Peares with 182 cubic hectometres, Velle with 17 cubic hectometres, Castrelo with 60 cubic hectometres and Frieira with 44 cubic hectometres.
  About 20 kilometres north of Ourense at Os Peares, the Minho, with a discharge of 102 m³/s, receives the waters of its main tributary, the Sil, with 184 m³/s.
context_section_description: The river begins in the Pedregal de Irimia of the Sierra de Meira, about 695 metres (2,280 ft) above sea level, in the municipality of Meira, northeast of the province of Lugo, where it flows through the town of Meira reaching the lagoon Fonmiñá (in the municipality of A Pastoriza). This lagoon is located in the same province. Although wrong, is historically considered as its birthplace. The Minho flows through the Galician massif and Cantabrian Mountain range and the mountains of Leon, two of the rainiest areas of the Iberian Peninsula, being one of the main rivers of the Atlantic slope.
  All its upper course has been declared a Biosphere Reserve. The Minho River runs its first 64 kilometres (40 mi) across the plateau of Lugo (Terrachá), a peneplain whose elevation ranges from 450 to 650 metres (1,480 to 2,130 ft) above the sea level.
  Its main tributaries are the Sil, Neira, Avia, Barbantiño, Búbal, Arnoya rivers.
caption: The mouth of the Minho
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