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| Aa | |
|---|---|
 The Aa atMerck-Saint-Liévin | |
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| Native name | L'Aa (French) |
| Location | |
| Country | France |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Bourthes,Pas-de-Calais |
| Mouth | |
• location | North Sea |
• coordinates | 51°0′21″N2°6′16″E / 51.00583°N 2.10444°E /51.00583; 2.10444 |
| Length | 93 km (58 mi) |
| Basin size | 1,215 km2 (469 mi2) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 10 m3/s (350 cu ft/s) |
TheAa (French pronunciation:[a];Picard:Abbe) is a river in northernFrance that is 93 km (58 miles) long.[1][2] Originating near the village ofBourthes and emptying into theNorth Sea nearGravelines, the Aa is located near the north-eastern limit of theEnglish Channel. The Aa has been canalized for most of its length and forms much of the border between the regions ofPas-de-Calais andNord.
The word "Aa" inOld Dutch means "water" (it still retains the name in modern Dutch and localWest Flemish), and can be traced viaProto-Germanic back to its originalIndo-European form.[3] The river is very well-known tocrossword enthusiasts ("the first river in France"). The river is known inModern Latin asAgnio, but has been recorded in many forms inMedieval Latin, starting withAgnona in 648 AD. In localPicard dialects, the Aa is traditionally called theAbbe.
The river's geography is divided into two parts. The first segment ranges from the river's source is in theArtois Hills[4] toSaint-Omer to form a smallchalk stream, similar to theSomme. This section of the river drains the Artois plateau and is 56 km (35 miles) long.[2] The river's second part spans from Saint-Omer to itsmouth, a distance of approximately 29 kilometres (18 miles).[5] As a navigable waterway, this section connects theCanal de Calais toCalais and the Canal de Bourbourg leading to Dunkirk. The section of the river from Saint-Omer to the junction with the main Dunkirk-Scheldt waterway and theCanal de Neuffossé are not currently navigable.
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Its name originates from the Old High German wordaha, which means water.[6] The word also shares roots with the Latin wordaqua. Saint-Omer formerly lay at the head of itsestuary while seaward, Calais lay on its western margin andBergues, now inland fromDunkirk, on its eastern one. By the time of theViking settlements on this coast, Dunkirk was developing on thedunes, offshore across theestuarine marsh from Bergues.Gravelines was the port at the seaward end of the river after the area of the estuary was reclaimed. The dates of these events are imprecise but the modern pattern was firmly established by 1588, the time of theSpanish Armada when an approximation to the modern course of the lowland river formed the boundary between theSpanish Netherlands andFrance. The river suffers significant problems from industrial discharge and siltation, which made the length of the Aa from Saint-Omer to the junction with theDunkirk-Escaut waterway unnavigable since the 1970s.[7][8]
Media related toAa River (France) at Wikimedia Commons