The
Po (; and
Eridanus; ; ancient
Ligurian:
Bodincus or
Bodencus; and Ἠριδανός) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the
Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern
Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the
Val Po under the northwest face of
Monviso (in the
Cottian Alps) through a delta projecting into the
Adriatic Sea near
Venice. It has a drainage area of 74,000 km² in all, 70,000 in Italy, of which 41,000 is in
montane environments and 29,000 on the plain. The Po is the longest river in Italy; at its widest point its width is . The Po extends along the
45th parallel north.