The Rhone River of Western Europe rises at the base of the Rhone Glacier in the Swiss Alps; flowing westward, it passes through Lake Geneva and then angles southwestward to Lyon, France. There it merges with the Saone River and turns southward; at Arles, the Rhone splits into the Grand Rhone, to the east, and the Petit Rhone, to the west. Both of these rivers empty into the Mediterranean Sea, west of Marseille, and the triangular delta between them is known as the Camargue.
Characterized by shallow brine lagoons (known as etangs), brackish marshes, grasslands and cultivated fields (primarily devoted to rice production), the Camargue is famous for its light-gray horses and its black bulls (bred for non-lethal bullfights). To naturalists, however, this vast delta is best known for its diverse avian population (400 species either reside within or visit the Camargue in the course of a year). Greater flamingos summer on the delta and large flocks of waterfowl, shorebirds and common cranes stop to rest and refuel on their long migrations between Africa and the Arctic.
The Camargue, a third of which is protected within a French Provincial Park, is the product of climate change near the end of the Pleistocene, some 12,000 years ago. Glacial meltwaters, loaded with sediment, fed the Rhone and its tributaries, producing the vast delta; in concert, sea levels rose, causing the Mediterranean to spill across this low country. As Earth's climate continues to warm, the Camargue will become a bay on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
