Meuse River

Infobox River
river_name = Maas


caption = The Meuse in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands
origin = flag|France
mouth = North Sea
coord|51|51|59|N|4|1|8|E|name=North Sea-Meuse|display=inline,title
basin_countries = flag|France, flag|Belgium, flag|Netherlands
length = 925 km (575 mi)
elevation = 409 m (1,342 ft)
discharge = 230 m³/s (8,124 ft³/s)
watershed = 36,000 km² (13,900 mi²)

The Meuse (in Dutch and in German: "Maas", in Latin: "Mosa", in Celtic:"Mus" (the rootword, presumingly related to: "moist")), is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea. It has a total length of 925 km (575 miles).

The Meuse marked the Western border of the Holy Roman Empire from its creation in the 9th century until the annexation of most of Alsace and Lorraine by France through the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), and to some extent until 1792 when the Prince-Bishopric of Liège was also annexed to France. Its Belgian portion, part of the sillon industriel, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe.fr icon cite web | title=Wallonie : une région en Europe | url=http://sder.wallonie.be/ICEDD/CAP-atlasWallonie2006/pages/atlas.asp?txt=conWalEur | publisher=Ministère de la Région wallonne | accessdate=September 29 | accessyear=2007] The Meuse is mentioned nostalgically in "Das Lied der Deutschen".

Geography

The Meuse rises in Pouilly-en-Bassigny, commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse on the Langres plateau in France from where it flows northwards past Sedan (the head of navigation) and Charleville-Mézières into Belgium. At Namur it is joined by the River Sambre. Beyond Namur the Meuse winds eastwards, skirting the Ardennes, and passes Liège before turning north. The river then forms part of the Belgian-Dutch border, except that at Maastricht the border lies further to the west. In the Netherlands it continues northwards through Venlo closely along the border to Germany, then turns towards the west, where the Waal river joins it, before it starts being part of an extensive delta, together with the mouths of especially the Scheldt river in its south and the main part of the Rhine river in the north. Before, the river has divided near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas on the right and the Bergse Maas on the left. The Bergse Maas continues under the name of Amer, which is part of the Biesbosch, and is joined by the Nieuwe Merwede, after which it flows on under the name of Hollands Diep, before finally flowing into the North Sea as Haringvliet.

The Meuse is crossed by railway bridges between the following stations (on the left and right banks respectively):
*Netherlands:
**Roermond - Weert
**Blerick – Venlo
**Cuijk – Nijmegen Heyendaal
**Ravenstein – Wijchen
**'s-Hertogenbosch – Zaltbommel

There are also numerous road bridges and around 32 ferry crossings.

The Meuse is navigable over a substantial part of its total length: In the Netherlands and Belgium, the river is part of the major inland navigation infrastructure, connecting the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Antwerp port areas to the industrial areas upstream: 's Hertogenbosch, Venlo, Maastricht, Liège, Namur. Between Maastricht and Maasbracht, an unnavigable section of the Meuse is bypassed by the 36 km Juliana Canal. South of Namur, further upstream, the river can only carry more modest vessels, although a barge as long as 100 m. can still reach the French border town of Givet.

From Givet, the river is canalized over a distance of 272 kilometers. The canalized Meuse used to be called the "Canal de l'Est — Branche Nord" but was recently rebaptized into "Canal de la Meuse". The waterway can be used by the smallest barges that are still in use commercially (almost 40 meters long and just over 5 meters wide). Just upstream of the town of Commercy, the Canal de la Meuse connects with the Canal de la Marne au Rhin by means of a short diversion canal. (Source: NoorderSoft Waterways database)

The Cretaceous sea reptile Mosasaur is named after the river Meuse. The first fossils of it were discovered outside Maastricht 1780.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the river Meuse are listed below in downstream-upstream order, with the town where the tributary meets the river:
**Dieze (near 's-Hertogenbosch)
***Aa (in 's-Hertogenbosch)
***Dommel (in 's-Hertogenbosch)
****Gender (in Eindhoven)
**Niers (in Gennep)
**Swalm (in Swalmen)
**Rur/Roer (in Roermond)
***Wurm (in Heinsberg, Germany)
***Merzbach (in Linnich, Germany)
***Inde (in Jülich, Germany)
**Geleenbeek (near Maasbracht)
**Geul (near Meerssen)
**Geer/Jeker (in Maastricht)
** Voer/Fouron (in Eijsden)
**Berwinne/Berwijn (near Moelingen, part of Voeren)
**Ourthe (in Liège)
***Weser/Vesdre (near Liège)
***Amel/Amblève (in Comblain-au-Pont)
****Salm (in Trois-Ponts)
****Warche (near Malmedy)
**Hoyoux (in Huy)
**Mehaigne (in Wanze)
**Sambre (in Namur)
**Bocq (in Yvoir)
**Molignée (in Anhée)
**Lesse (in Anseremme, part of Dinant)
**Viroin (in Vireux-Molhain)
**Semois or Semoy (in Monthermé)
**Bar (near Dom-le-Mesnil)
**Chiers (in Bazeilles)

Départements, provinces and towns

The Meuse flows through the following departments of France, provinces of Belgium, provinces of the Netherlands and towns:

* Haute-Marne
* Vosges: Neufchâteau
* Meuse: Commercy, Saint-Mihiel, Verdun, Stenay
* Ardennes: Sedan, Charleville-Mézières, Givet
* Namur: Dinant, Namur
* Liège: Huy, Liège, Visé
* Limburg: Maastricht, Roermond, Venlo
* Limburg: Maaseik
* North Brabant: Boxmeer, Heusden
* Gelderland: Maasdriel

ee also

*"Das Lied der Deutschen" ("The Song of the Germans"), also known as "Das Deutschlandlied" ("The Song of Germany"), written in 1841, describes a then–yet-to-unite Germany, with the Maas as the Western border, as the river runs closely along the border to the Netherlands and parts of the Holy Roman Empire (the duchies of Jülich and Cleves and the prince-bishopric of Liège) bordered river Maas before the Great French War from 1795.

References

External links

* [http://www.ppl.nl/bibliographies/all/showresults.php?bibliography=water&code=WR244&topic=regional%20studies%20%3E%20Europe%20%3E%20Meuse%20River Peace Palace Library's Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law regarding "Meuse River"]