Meuse

Meuse
The Meuse in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands
Origin	France
Mouth	North Sea 51°51′59″N 4°1′8″E / 51.86639°N 4.01889°E / 51.86639; 4.01889 (North Sea-Meuse)Coordinates: 51°51′59″N 4°1′8″E / 51.86639°N 4.01889°E / 51.86639; 4.01889 (North Sea-Meuse)
Basin countries	France,  Belgium,  Netherlands
Length	925 km (575 mi)
Source elevation	409 m (1,342 ft)
Avg. discharge	230 m³/s (8,124 ft³/s)
Basin area	36,000 km² (13,900 mi²)

Meuse river seen from Spot Satellite

The Meuse (in Dutch and in German: Maas, in Latin: "Mosa", in Celtic:"Mus" (the rootword, presumably 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 (accurately its Walloon) portion, part of the sillon industriel, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe.^[1] 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.

A view of the Meuse in the French Ardennes

Tributaries

The Meuse and the Rochers de Freÿr, south of Dinant

The Meuse at Dinant

The Meuse (Maas) at Maastricht

Meuse near Grave

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)
  • Sormonne (in Warcq)
  • Bar (near Dom-le-Mesnil)
  • Chiers (in Bazeilles)
    • Othain (in Montmédy)

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, Gennep
• Limburg: Maaseik
• North Brabant: Boxmeer, Cuijk, Grave, Ravenstein, Lith, Heusden, Aalburg, Woudrichem
• Gelderland: Maasdriel
• South Holland: Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Maassluis

See 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Meuse River

• Peace Palace Library's Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law regarding Meuse River