River
Lima River
135 km from source to mouth · Portugal.
PortugalFlows into Atlantic Ocean
In numbers
Length
135km
Average flow
75m³/s
Basin
2,370km²
Drop
624m
from 621 m to -3 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
135 km of river and 13 stops on the way: 6 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmParadiña, Sarreausat 621 m
- 9 kmXinzo de Limia10,161 people
- 14 kmLagoa de Antela0.4 km²
- 40 kmSan Pedro de Muiños1,962 people
- 47 kmAs Conchas Reservoir4.5 km²
- 67 kmAlto Lindoso Dam
- 86 kmTouvedo Dam
- 92 kmPonte da Barca4,372 people
- 112 kmPonte de Lima43,498 people
- 135 kmSenhora da Agonia Lighthouse
- 135 kmSantiago Lighthouse
- 135 kmPonte Eiffel
- 135 kmMeadela9,981 people
- 135 kmDarque8,092 people
- 135 kmAtlantic Oceanat -3 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River that runs west from Galicia, Spain, and through the north of Portugal, towards the Atlantic Ocean
At the mouth it carries 75 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 33 seconds. It drops from 621 m to -3 m, 4.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,370 km², about the size of RE. 125,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to February; lowest: from June to September. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (24% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- Ponte de LimaLargest city on its banks · 43,498 people
- Vigo Airport (VGO)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 52 km from the cityCar hire at VGO airport (Vigo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water1 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Lima River, month by month
Highest water: from December to February
Lowest water: from June to September. Best months to visit: from June to September.
From about 11 m³/s in the lowest month to 170 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
Lima River: the basin in numbers
2,469 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 125,000people live in the basin
- 51/km²people per km²
- 631maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,335mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 12.0°Caverage air temperature
- 28%protected areas
- 0.6%covered by lakes
- 0.6km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 90% Forest
- 6% Cropland
- 8% Pasture
- 2% 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
Lima River: what you find on the way
- 10WeirsO Poldrado and 9 more
- 5WaterfallsFervenza do Rio Arado, Cascata do Poço das Canejas, Cascatas da Gemieira and 2 more
- 1Boat ramps
- 3River beachesPraia Fluvial de Ponte da Barca, Praia Fluvial São Simão, Praia Fluvial de Viana do Castelo
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Lima River 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.
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
28beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
4mountains at the sourcePeakyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lagoa de Antelakm 130.4km²
- As Conchas Reservoirkm 434.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (28)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Praia de Fão20 km away17.3°C
- Praia de Suave Mar16 km away17.3°C
- Praia da Amorosa5.7 km away17.3°C
- Praia do Cabedelo3.6 km away17.3°C
- Praia do Lumiar8.1 km away17.3°C
- Praia de Belinho12 km away17.3°C
- Praia Fedorento25 km away17.2°C
- Praia de Ofir20 km away17.3°C
20 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
Mountains at the source (4)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Requejo15 km away
- Montegrande7.9 km away
- Alto da Medorra4.9 km away
- Alto de Espireiras9.1 km away
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Insua20 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
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
Lima River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (5)
Also: Vez River, Adrão River, Cabril River, Castro Laboreiro river, río Faramontaos
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Portugal315 km340 m³/s26 km awayDouro RiverPortugal897 km680 m³/s62 km awayTâmega RiverPortugal184 km69 m³/s81 km awaySilis
Spain228 km240 m³/s121 km awayVouga RiverPortugal148 km62 m³/s111 km awayMondego RiverPortugal234 km110 m³/s173 km awayÁgueda RiverPortugal176 km23 m³/s172 km awayTormesSpain284 km42 m³/s198 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q14558) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — 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?
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