| Sil | |
| Map: | Sil, rivi猫re.png |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Spain |
| Subdivision Type3: | Autonomous Community |
| Subdivision Name3: | Castilla y Leon, Galicia |
| Subdivision Type5: | City |
| Subdivision Name5: | Ponferrada |
| Length: | 228km (142miles) |
| Source1: | La Cueta, Cabrillanes |
| Source1 Location: | Le贸n, Castilla y Le贸n, Spain |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 43.0316掳N -6.1553掳W |
| Source Confluence: | Os Peares |
| Source Confluence Location: | Ourense, Galicia, Spain |
| Source Confluence Coordinates: | 42.4538掳N -7.7299掳W |
| Mouth: | Mi帽o Estuary |
| Mouth Location: | Atlantic Ocean, Spain |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0m (00feet) |
| Tributaries Left: | Boeza, Cabrera, Bibei, Navea, Mao |
| Tributaries Right: | Caboalles, C煤a, Selmo, Sold贸n, Lor, Cabe |
| Custom Label: | Reservoirs |
| Custom Data: | Las Rozas, B谩rcena, Pe帽arrubia, Pumares, Santiago, San Marti帽o, Sequeiros, Santo Estevo, San Pedro ou Pombeiros |
The Sil is a river in Le贸n (Castile and Le贸n) and Galicia, Spain, a tributary of the Mi帽o. Its total length is 225km (140miles). The source of the Sil is in the Cantabrian Mountains, in La Cueta part of the Leonese municipality of Cabrillanes. It flows through the provinces of Le贸n and Ourense. The largest city on the Sil is Ponferrada (Le贸n). The Sil flows into the Mi帽o upstream from Ourense.
The river joins the Mi帽o river in Os Peares, in the province of Ourense.
Generally, the hierarchy between rivers is performed by taking into account which junction has more volume and length. In this case, as with the Esla and Pisuerga with the Duero, the Sil has flows larger than the Mi帽o at the junction. There is a saying that goes, "The Mi帽o has the fame, but the Sil gives it water" (in Spanish, El Mi帽o lleva la fama y el Sil le da el agua). The Sil river also surpasses the Mi帽o in length by about 20km (10miles).
The Sil runs through the Le贸n districts of Babia, Laciana, El Bierzo and La Cabrera, and Ourense Valdeorras, among other locations across Villablino, Ponferrada, O Barco de Valdeorras, A R煤a, Quiroga and Ribas de Sil.
The river has been a rich source of alluvial gold, and was most extensively exploited during the Roman period, following the conquest of north-west Spain by Augustus in 25 BC. The upper reaches of the river possessed large placer deposits, and the region around Las M茅dulas yielded large amounts of gold. It was extracted using hydraulic mining, involving the building of numerous aqueducts to expose and wash the alluvial formations.
According to Pokorny and to E. Bascuas, "Sil" would belong to the old European hydronymy, derived from the Indoeuropean root *sei- 'drip, run, humid'.[1]
