Prelims ask
Swiss Alps, north, North Sea, Netherlands delta, six countries.
Europe
Rhine
Short by world standards. First by European inland traffic.
- Source
- Swiss Alps. Anterior Rhine, Lake Toma, Graubünden.
- Countries
- Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
- Direction
- North, then northwest.
- Mouth
- North Sea.
- Length
- About 1,230 km.
- Major tributaries
- Aare, Neckar, Main, Moselle, Ruhr.
- Delta or estuary
- Delta in the Netherlands, shared with the Meuse.
- Basin
- Europe’s busiest inland waterway.
- One exam fact
- The Rhône rises a short distance away and flows to the Mediterranean. The Rhine goes to the North Sea.
Mains use
Paired sources, opposite seas: Rhine and Rhône. A political and navigation river more than a length river.