River

Nervión

76 km from source to mouth · Spain.

SpainFlows into Estuary of Bilbao

Follow the river Month by month

SourceMouthBilbao

The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

76km

Average flow

9.6m³/s

Basin

1,900km²

Drop

203m

from 201 m to -2 m

Country

The journey

From source to mouth

76 km of river and 17 stops on the way: 13 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

201 m-2 m

Ibaizabalat 201 m0 km

Laudio / Llodio18,314 people12 km

Arrigorriaga12,435 people24 km

Zaratamo1,643 people25 km

Santutxu60,000 people32 km

Bilbao347,342 people33 km

Barakaldo100,435 people40 km

Estuary of Bilbaoat -2 m45 km

01020304045 km

0 kmIbaizabalat 201 m
0 kmAmurrio10,286 people
12 kmLaudio / Llodio18,314 people
24 kmArrigorriaga12,435 people
25 kmZaratamo1,643 people
28 kmBasauri42,657 people
32 kmSantutxu60,000 people
32 kmSan Antón Bridge
33 kmpuente de la Merced
33 kmBilbao347,342 people
40 kmBarakaldo100,435 people
40 kmErandio24,262 people
42 kmLeioa31,197 people
43 kmSestao27,445 people
45 kmPortugalete44,843 people
45 kmVizcaya Bridge
45 kmSanturtzi46,978 people
45 kmAsua rivertributary
45 kmEstuary of Bilbaoat -2 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Spain

At the mouth it carries 9.6 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 260 seconds. It drops from 201 m to -2 m, 2.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,900 km², about the size of GP. 872,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to February; lowest: from July to August. Its dams hold back little of its water (2.1% of a year's flow).

Where to start

BilbaoLargest city on its banks · 347,342 people
Bilbao Airport (BIO)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 4 km from the cityCar hire at BIO airport (Bilbao)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
On the water32 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
From May to AugustThe best months to visit

Nervión, month by month

Highest water: from December to February

Lowest water: from July to August. Best months to visit: from May to August.

9°125 mmJan

9°122 mmFeb

11°79 mmMar

12°88 mmApr

15°79 mmMay

17°73 mmJun

19°46 mmJul

20°64 mmAug

18°106 mmSep

16°120 mmOct

11°120 mmNov

9°154 mmDec

Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 12 m³/s in the lowest month to 56 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

Car hire at BIO airport (Bilbao)Discover CarsSee

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

Nervión: the basin in numbers

1,790 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 2.1% of a year's flow.

872,000people live in the basin
489/km²people per km²
386maverage altitude of the basin
1,074mmof rain a year (basin average)
12.5°Caverage air temperature
10%protected areas
0.1%covered by lakes
0.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

90% Forest
3% Cropland
15% Pasture
14% 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

Nervión: what you find on the way

14DamsTxarrotako Presea and 13 more
17WeirsMuro de retención de aguas and 16 more
15Boat rampsBilboabentura - Embarcadero, Embarcadero and 13 more
9Ferry piersPío Baroja plaza, Portugalete, Embarcadero Getxo and 6 more
8MarinasMuelle Viejo, Muelle Remolcadores del Puerto de Bilbao, Puerto deportivo de Santurtzi and 5 more
4River beachesSolarium-Zona de Pesca Los Cargaderos, Areetako Hondartza, Ereaga and 1 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Nervión 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.

10beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
21mountains at the sourcePeakyas
5islands off the mouthIslandyas

Beaches (10)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

Atxabiribil6.3 km away21.7°C
Ereaga1.9 km away21.7°C
Playa Areetakm 4521.7°C
Playa de Brazomar16 km away21.7°C
Playa de Ostende18 km away21.7°C
Playa Elexalde11 km away21.7°C
Gorrondatxa5.9 km away21.7°C
Playa La Arena8.3 km away21.7°C

2 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (21)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

Kruzeta5.5 km away1,171m
Tologorri/Iturrigorri13 km away1,068m
Raso12 km away1,046m
Solaiera8.9 km away1,039m
Bedarbide11 km away1,037m
Rodil13 km away1,031m
Cantoblanco10 km away1,006m
Txarlazo7.8 km away927m

13 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (5)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

Gaztelugatxe23 km away
Izaro Island29 km away
Aketx24 km away
Txatxarramendi27 km away0.0km²
Sandindere island28 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Nervión: satellite view of the source — **The source**14 km across

Nervión: satellite view of the mouth — **The mouth**10 km across

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

Nervión in pictures

Nervión River Bilbao 2 — kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0

Nervión River Bilbao 3 — kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0

Bilbao - Ribera del Nervión, barrio de Bilbao La Vieja — Zarateman · CC BY-SA 4.0

Nervion2016 — Niels Johannes · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (2)

Also: Altube, Asua river

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Adour

France308 km350 m³/s123 km away Bidasoa

France68 km26 m³/s100 km away Gave de Pau River

France193 km82 m³/s147 km away Aragón

Spain195 km41 m³/s161 km away Arga

Spain145 km60 m³/s155 km away Gave d'Oloron

France149 km100 m³/s159 km away Carrión River

Spain179 km21 m³/s173 km away Garonne

France647 km660 m³/s270 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, places	Wikidata (Q14353) · CC0
Course, profile, basin	RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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	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?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit