Key Facts about Rhine River

Dec. 18, 2023

Parts of the Rhine River in south Germany remained closed to shipping recently after heavy rain and melting snow increased water levels.

About Rhine River:

It is the 12th longest river in Europe, stretching approximately 1,230 kilometres from its source in Switzerland to its mouth on the North Seain the Netherlands.
Origin: It originates from the southeastern part of the Swiss Alps in the Canton of Grisons, Switzerland.
Drainage Basin: This transboundary river drains an area of about 185,000 square kilometres and flows through six countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, and the Netherlands.
Course: It flows in a northward direction from its sources in Switzerland through the other five countries, and then turns west into the North Sea.
Tributaries: Some of the notable tributaries of the Rhine River include Aare, Tamina, Moselle, Erft, Rein da Tuma, Plessur, Rotach, and Wiese.
The major cities along the Rhine include Basel (Switzerland), Cologne, Bonn, Duisburg, Mainz, Leverkusen, and Neuss (Germany), Strasbourg (France), and Rotterdam and Utrecht (Netherlands).
It facilitates industrial transportation and supports industrial production, with about 20% of the world’s chemical industries manufacturing along the river.