Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)
The Oude Rijn is a branch of the Rhine delta in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and South Holland, starting west of Utrecht, at Harmelen, and running by a mechanical pumping station into the North Sea at Katwijk. Its present-day length is 52 kilometres.
The Oude Rijn in Leiden
Windmill Zoeterwoude
Castellum Nigrum Pullum (Zwammerdam) at Rhine river, artist impression Stevie Xinas
Satellite close-up of the Utrecht region showing the Leidse Rijn-Oude Rijn stream (d).
The Rhine is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, and Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border, after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland. Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea. It drains an area of 9,973 km2 and its name derives from the Celtic Rēnos. There are also two German states named after the river, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Rhine in Basel, Switzerland
Lake Toma seen from the Rhine's upstream end
The confluence of the Anterior Rhine to the lower left and the Posterior Rhine in the background forms the Alpine Rhine (to the left) next to Reichenau.
The Rhine between Sargans in Switzerland (left) and Balzers in Liechtenstein (right) with the Gonzen (1,829 m (6,001 ft), left), the Girrenspitz (2,099 m (6,886 ft)) in the back, and the Maziferchopf (855 m (2,805 ft)) to the right