Ter (river)



The Ter is a river in Catalonia, Spain. It rises in the Ulldeter, a glacial cirque in the East Pyrenees, at an approximate elevation of 2400 m. At heights of around 3000 m, the nearby peaks bordering the Ulldeter—the Bastiments, the Gra de Fajol, and the Pic de la Dona—supply its headwaters. The river runs through the comarques of Ripollès, Osona, Selva, Gironès, and Baix Empordà, discharging into the Mediterranean Sea at l'Estartit.

The Ter follows a course of 208 km and drains an area of approximately 3010 km2; its basin is described by a dendritic (branching, tree-like) and exorheic drainage pattern. Annually, an average of 840 hm3 of water is moved by the river, with an average flow rate of 25 m3/s at its mouth. Although its headwaters are in the Pyrenees, the Ter receives significant inflow from rivers in the middle and lower plains. Thus it is susceptible to flooding in both the spring and the autumn.