Lower Rhine
| Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) | |
|---|---|
 Lower Rhine atDüsseldorf | |
 Sections of the Rhine: Lower Rhine | |
| Location | |
| Country | Germany |
| States | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Districts | Bonn,Cologne,Duisburg,Düsseldorf,Kleve,Krefeld,Leverkusen,Mettmann,Rhein-Erft,Rhein-Kreis Neuss,Rhein-Lahn,Rhein-Sieg,Wesel |
| Country | The Netherlands |
| Provinces | Gelderland,South Holland,Utrecht |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | BetweenBad GodesbergandBonn-Oberkassel,continuation of theMiddle Rhine |
| • coordinates | 50°42′20″N7°9′46.2″E/ 50.70556°N 7.162833°E |
| • elevation | 61 m |
| Mouth | |
• location | Hook of Holland,North Sea |
• coordinates | 51°58′53.3″N4°4′50.99″E/ 51.981472°N 4.0808306°E |
• elevation | 0 m |
| Length | 373 km (232 mi), 205.5 km (127.7 mi) without theNederrijn |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Erft,Kalflack,Meuse |
| • right | Düssel,Emscher,Lippe,Ruhr,Sieg,Wupper |
Lower Rhine(‹See Tfd›German:Niederrhein,pronounced[ˈniːdɐˌʁaɪn];kilometres[a]660 to 1,033 of theRhine)[2]refers to the section of the Rhine betweenBonninGermanyand theNorth SeaatHook of Hollandin theNetherlands,including theNederrijn(English:Nether Rhine) within theRhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta;alternatively,Lower Rhinemay also refer to just the part upstream ofPannerdens Kop(km660–865.5),[2]excluding theNederrijn.[3][4]
It is the last of the four sections of the Rhine betweenLake Constanceand the North Sea (the others being theHigh Rhine,Upper RhineandMiddle Rhine).
Geography
[edit]German section
[edit]Downstream of Bonn, the rivermeandersthrough theLower Rhine Bay(Niederrheinische Bucht), passing through the city ofCologne(Köln), and continues through theLower Rhine Plain(Niederrheinisches Tiefland). The German termNiederrheinrefers both to the German section of the Lower Rhine as well as to parts of the surroundingLower Rhine region.
Netherlands section
[edit]Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into numerous branches. The main branch is called theWaalwhich flows fromNijmegento meet theMeuse;after which it is calledMerwede.NearRotterdamthe river is known asNieuwe Maas,and becomes theNieuwe Waterwegflowing into the North Sea at Hook of Holland.
The downstream Lower Rhine is a low-lying land. Up to the beginning ofindustrializationroughly one fifth of the land area could only be used as pasture: an endless meadow, which could not be farmed because of flooding and a high ground-water level. However, the remaining soils of the Lower Rhine were always very fertile. That can also be seen in the farmsteads. The houses are relatively large, with the intention of accommodating a plentiful harvest and many cattle. The Nederrijn refers to the more northern former main branch of the Rhine, which flows pastArnhem;splits off theIJsselwhich flows into theIJsselmeerand then splits into theLekand theKromme RijnatWijk bij Duurstede.The Lek flows into the Merwede. The Kromme Rijn continues pastUtrecht,becomes theLeidse Rijn,thenOude Rijnand flows into the North Sea atKatwijk.
There are other minor branches such as theVecht,Hollandse IJsseland theNoord.
See also
[edit]- Rhineland
- Nederrijn
- Low Rhenish
- Lower Rhine,aFrenchdepartmentbordering theUpper Rhine
- Lower Rhine,aPrussianprovince(1815 to 1822) bordering theMiddle Rhine
- Other sections of the Rhine:
- List of rivers of Germany
Notes
[edit]- ^The kilometrage of the Rhine begins at theOld Rhine Bridgein the city ofKonstanz(Constance) and ends at theHook of Hollandat theNorth Sea.[1]
References
[edit]- ^"Rheinkilometrierung[Rhine kilometrage] "(in German).Retrieved22 June2024.
- ^ab"Leuchtfeuer am Niederrhein[Beacon on the Lower Rhine] "(in German).Retrieved22 June2024.
- ^"Lower Rhine".www.iksr.org.Retrieved22 April2023.
- ^Gerlach, Renate; Meurers-Balke, Jutta; Kalis, Arie J. (2022)."The Lower Rhine (Germany) in Late Antiquity: a time of dissolving structures".Netherlands Journal of Geosciences.101:e14.doi:10.1017/njg.2022.11.ISSN0016-7746.