Ain River

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Ain
Source of the Ain River.
Origin	Jura mountains
Mouth	Rhône River
Basin countries	France
Length	195 km
Source elevation	± 700 m
Avg. discharge	130 m³/s
Basin area	3,630 km²

The Ain is a river in eastern France. In the Franco-Provençal language it is known as the En.

[edit] Global position

The river rises at an altitude of some 700 metres, near the village of La Favière (coordinates 06°02'02"E 46°45'13"N), in the Jurassic limestone of the southern end of the Jura mountains and flows into the Rhône about 40 kilometres above Lyon, some 190 kilometres down the Ain.

Its source is in the old county: Franche-Comté. It flows south through the combined lengths of the two départements of

• Jura (named after the mountains: and
• Ain : (named after the river).

On the way it passes through the towns of Champagnole. (05°54'28"E 46°44'53"N) and Pont-d'Ain (05°20'13"E 46°02'56"N).

The Ain flows into the river Rhône, on the Rhône's right bank, opposite the village of Anthon, (05°10'14" 45°47'30") approximately 40 km east of Lyon.

This picture gives an impression of the landscape of the upper Ain.

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[edit] Economy

The economy is not generally such as to provide riches. Neither is it one which used to require large towns as other than external markets in which to sell. The population is therefore dispersed. The exception to this is the town of Oyonnax, in the Ange valley which is parallel with the Ain. According to the legend, St Léger gave the monopoly of comb making to Oyonnax in 630. The traditional small products of the region, wood-turning, horn combs and trinkets led to the development of a specialism in the injection moulding, vacuum forming and so on of plastics, beginning with celluloid in 1880. The town's population in 1999 was 24,636 but it is the exception for the river basin (ext links).

The timber is the region's most obvious asset. Some was marketed down river and some converted into charcoal which permitted the rise of water-powered forges working iron from smelters in the Saône valley. There is also pasture producing cheese specialities. In the 20th century, the water power was diverted to the production of hydro-electricity, a fact which aided the early introduction of the plastics industry at Oyonnax. In this, the Ain is central.

This is an area of unusually high rainfall for France. But in the summer season, the weather is usually kind. The woodland walks, fishing, sailing and impressive scenery have permitted the development of the outdoor kind of tourism.

[edit] Fauna

The Ain is very rich in fish, including trout, in particular Salmo trutta fario; grayling, especially the common grayling Thymallys thymallus; pike, perch, barbel, bream, carp, tench, roach, Eurasian minnow, chub and loach.

Numerous birds populate the river's banks: duck, egret, swans, heron, and snipe. Beavers are also present and construct numerous dams while wild boar and roe deer are found in the woods and forests bordering the stream. Otters have once more been seen since 2003, so demonstrating a general improvement in the quality of the waters.

[edit] Development

The river's natural surroundings remain relatively wild, and are the subject of an environmental scheme by the name of a SDAGE (Schéma Directeur d’Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux), set up under a French law. Its aim is to conserve and make the best use of the whole hydrological system by viewing it as a unit. That involves reconciling the hydro-electric stations with the boating, fishing, swimming and perhaps water extraction in view of the tendency to industrial development on the reclaimed delta land at its confluence with the Rhone at its southern end.

[edit] Hydrographic statistics

[edit] References

• Carte géologique de la France à l'échelle du millionième 6th edn, (2003) ISBN 2-7159-2158-6 [CG]
• Michelin France Tourist and Motoring Atlas (2002) ISBN 2-06-100128-9 [Mich]
• Bartholomew, J.G. The Times Survey Atlas of the World (1922) [Times]
• Dercourt, J. Géologie et Géodynamique de La France Outre-mer et européenne 3rd edn. (2002) ISBN 2-10-006459-2 [Dercourt]
• Encyclopediædia Britannica (1960) [EB]
• Fauna paragraph translated from the French Wikipedia article.

[edit] General external links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ain River

• This is in French but the old pictures give an idea of the geology, from source to confluence
• Cartographical details of the source. In French
• The dairy component of the economy
• Plastics valley
• Small manufacturing

[edit] Archaeology

• Upper Palaeolithic cave art

[edit] Learned paper

• MAYET, L. y PISSOT, J. (1915): Abri sous roche préhistorique de La Colombière près Pocin (Ain). Faculté des Sciences de Lyon. Laboratoire de Géologie et Paléontologie. section d'Anthropologie et Paléontologie, Lyon. 193 pp.