Somme

River in northern France, on which Amiens and Abbeville stand; length 245 km/152 mi. It rises in Aisne département near St Quentin and flows west through Somme département to the English Channel near St Valéry-sur-Somme. It is connected by canal with the Oise and the Schelde (French Escaut). Its tributaries include the rivers Ancre and Avre.

Some of the heaviest fighting of World War I took place on the banks of the Somme, especially in July-November 1916 (see Somme, Battle of the).