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River

Po

652 km from source to mouth · Italy.

ItalyItalyFlows into Adriatic Sea1st longest in Italy

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

652km

Average flow

1,500m³/s

Basin

74,000km²

Drop

683m

from 677 m to -6 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

652 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 46 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

677 m-6 m
Pian del Reat 677 m0 km
Turin841,600 people84 km
Sesiatributary169 km
Tanarotributary195 km
Lambrotributary274 km
Piacenza103,607 people297 km
Tarotributary374 km
Ogliotributary431 km
Minciotributary461 km
Panarotributary512 km
Porto Tolle10,666 people603 km
Adriatic Seaat -6 m652 km
0200400652 km
  1. 0 kmPian del Reat 677 m
  2. 35 kmCardè1,124 people
  3. 35 kmCardè Bridge
  4. 49 kmPellicetributary
  5. 69 kmLa Loggia8,433 people
  6. 76 kmNichelino47,760 people
  7. 76 kmMoncalieri56,134 people
  8. 79 kmFiladelfia45,531 people
  9. 79 kmNizza Millefonti26,487 people
  10. 80 kmLingotto49,705 people
  11. 81 kmCircoiscrizione VIII134,028 people
  12. 81 kmSanta Rita29,680 people
  13. 81 kmCircoiscrizione II141,344 people
  14. 82 kmPolo Nord16,983 people
  15. 83 kmSan Salvario35,591 people
  16. 83 kmCrocetta18,334 people
  17. 83 kmCenisia36,044 people
  18. 83 kmCit Turin12,502 people
  19. 84 kmQuadrilatero15,000 people
  20. 84 kmCircoiscrizione I78,523 people
  21. 84 kmSan Donato32,586 people
  22. 84 kmCentro20,285 people
  23. 84 kmPonte Vittorio Emanuele I
  24. 84 kmTurin841,600 people
  25. 84 kmPorta Palazzo19,000 people
  26. 85 kmAurora20,001 people
  27. 85 kmCircoiscrizione VII89,448 people
  28. 85 kmVanchiglia29,230 people
  29. 86 kmVanchiglietta18,300 people
  30. 88 kmCircoiscrizione VI107,369 people
  31. 88 kmDora Ripariatributary
  32. 88 kmBarriera di Milano50,354 people
  33. 88 kmRegio Parco9,117 people
  34. 89 kmStura di Lanzotributary
  35. 92 kmSan Mauro Torinese18,521 people
  36. 96 kmSettimo Torinese47,485 people
  37. 99 kmGassino Torinese8,211 people
  38. 103 kmBrandizzo8,373 people
  39. 107 kmChivasso23,017 people
  40. 122 kmDora Balteatributary
  41. 157 kmCasale Monferrato33,213 people
  42. 169 kmSesiatributary
  43. 184 kmValenza17,305 people
  44. 195 kmTanarotributary
  45. 209 kmAgognatributary
  46. 209 kmScriviatributary
  47. 217 kmStafforatributary
  48. 242 kmTicinotributary
  49. 274 kmLambrotributary
  50. 294 kmTrebbiatributary
  51. 297 kmPiacenza103,607 people
  52. 301 kmPiacenza cable-stayed bridge
  53. 324 kmSan Nazzaro703 people
  54. 330 kmAddatributary
  55. 342 kmCremona71,223 people
  56. 374 kmTarotributary
  57. 390 kmCasalmaggiore10,438 people
  58. 402 kmViadana20,013 people
  59. 414 kmGuastalla11,682 people
  60. 424 kmSuzzara16,571 people
  61. 431 kmOgliotributary
  62. 461 kmMinciotributary
  63. 468 kmSecchiatributary
  64. 510 kmRocca Possente
  65. 512 kmPanarotributary
  66. 528 kmSanta Maria Maddalena8,174 people
  67. 590 kmTaglio14,441 people
  68. 590 kmPorto Viro13,644 people
  69. 603 kmPorto Tolle10,666 people
  70. 652 kmAdriatic Seaat -6 m

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

Longest river in Italy

At the mouth it carries 1,460 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.7 seconds. It drops from 677 m to -6 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 74,000 km², about the size of SL. 17.2 million people live in it. Highest water: from November to December. Its dams hold back little of its water (3.5% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • TurinLargest city on its banks · 841,600 people
  • Turin Airport (TRN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 14 km from the cityCar hire at TRN airport (Caselle Torinese)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water51 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Po, month by month

Highest water: from November to December

Best months to visit: from May to September.

2,300
2°50 mmJan
2,000
4°52 mmFeb
1,900
8°63 mmMar
2,000
13°73 mmApr
2,000
17°77 mmMay
1,700
21°65 mmJun
1,400
23°52 mmJul
1,200
23°65 mmAug
1,400
20°68 mmSep
2,100
14°91 mmOct
2,600
8°86 mmNov
2,700
3°59 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 1,200 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,700 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

Po: the basin in numbers

73,289 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 3.5% of a year's flow.
  • 17.2millionpeople live in the basin
  • 239/km²people per km²
  • 759maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,010mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 9.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 7%protected areas
  • 1.3%covered by lakes
  • 2%permafrost
  • 2.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 41% Forest
  • 30% Cropland
  • 8% Pasture
  • 13% 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

Po: what you find on the way

  • 26DamsCimena DMV and 25 more
  • 414WeirsDiga Michelotti, Chiavica Cassino, Diga Isola Serafini and 411 more
  • 22LocksPO-SX-50, Conca di Isola Serafini, Canale Milano-Cremona - Po and 19 more
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 1Rapids
  • 25Boat rampsPontile Amici del Po, Scivolo di varo e di alaggio imbarcazioni del "Porti" di Morano sul Po and 23 more
  • 4Ferry piersItalia '61, Borgo Medioevale, Murazzi and 1 more
  • 22MarinasAmici del Po, Gite sul fiume, Porto Luzzara and 19 more
  • 3River beachesLa Spiaggetta, Spiaggia del Meisino, I Sabbioni

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Po 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.

  • 3beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 64mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 1island off the mouthIslandyas

Beaches (3)

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

  1. Spiaggia Barricata14 km away26.1°C
  2. Spiaggia di Rosolina Mare24 km away25.9°C
  3. Spiaggia Libera Albarella20 km away25.9°C

Open Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (64)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Viso3.8 km away · prominence 2,062 m3,841m
  2. Viso di Vallanta3.9 km away3,781m
  3. Visolotto2.9 km away3,348m
  4. Bric de Rubren14 km away3,340m
  5. Monte Granero2.8 km away · prominence 250 m3,171m
  6. Aiguillette5.6 km away3,298m
  7. Monte Salza14 km away · prominence 153 m3,326m
  8. Punta Gastaldi2.6 km away · prominence 204 m3,214m

56 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (1)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Albarella18 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Po: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Po: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth37 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

Po in pictures

Po bei Mantova
Adrian Michael · CC BY 2.5

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q643) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCoastya, 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit