Rhine

The Rhine is one of the <a href="/facts/List_of_rivers_of_Europe/qvPkenTo">major rivers</a> in <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a>. The river begins in the Swiss <a href="/facts/Canton_of_Graub%25C3%25BCnden/MngHSID3">canton of Graubünden</a> in the southeastern <a href="/facts/Swiss_Alps/4oUJF4jo">Swiss Alps</a>. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the <a href="/facts/Austria%25E2%2580%2593Switzerland_border/3eL6njCW">Swiss-Austrian border</a>. From <a href="/facts/Lake_Constance/1PpRuGVr">Lake Constance</a> downstream, it forms part of the <a href="/facts/Germany-Switzerland_border/Co1q6NbU">Swiss-German border</a>. After that the Rhine defines much of the <a href="/facts/Franco-German_border/HoDbUygI">Franco-German border</a>. It then flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German <a href="/facts/Rhineland/dBDAzo1o">Rhineland</a>. Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the <a href="/facts/Netherlands/y8xn5stT">Netherlands</a> where it eventually empties into the <a href="/facts/North_Sea/htGJNmsb">North Sea</a>. It drains an area of 9,973 km2.
Its name derives from the <a href="/facts/Gaulish_language/CAQo48pc">Gaulish</a> Rēnos. There are two <a href="/facts/States_of_Germany/hIpruCeX">German states</a> named after the river, <a href="/facts/North_Rhine-Westphalia/0QmCWxjo">North Rhine-Westphalia</a> and <a href="/facts/Rhineland-Palatinate/Ny2D4pbe">Rhineland-Palatinate</a>, in addition to several <a href="/facts/Districts_of_Germany/qNDD9Gud">districts</a> (e.g. <a href="/facts/Rhein-Sieg-Kreis/1z1lLp4I">Rhein-Sieg</a>). The <a href="/facts/Departments_of_France/KVnaWaqQ">departments</a> of <a href="/facts/Bas-Rhin/5W5RDzpJ">Bas-Rhin</a> and <a href="/facts/Haut-Rhin/pVP5aPnS">Haut-Rhin</a> in Alsace (France) are also named after the river. Some adjacent towns are named after it, such as <a href="/facts/Rheinau%2c_Switzerland/7VsKxNry">Rheinau</a>, <a href="/facts/Stein_am_Rhein/V7EA3kSC">Stein am Rhein</a>, <a href="/facts/Rheineck/wnafhVXy">Rheineck</a>, <a href="/facts/Rheinfelden_(Aargau)/UxWI1g4k">Rheinfelden (Switzerland)</a> and <a href="/facts/Rheinfelden_(Baden)/KNLnI19Y">Rheinfelden (Germany)</a>.
The International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine Basin (CHR) and EUWID contend that the river could experience a massive decrease in volume, or even dry up completely in case of drought, within the next 30 to 80 years, as a result of the <a href="/facts/Climate_crisis/b4J1LBsB">climate crisis</a>.
The Rhine is the <a href="/facts/List_of_rivers_of_Europe/qvPkenTo">second-longest river</a> in <a href="/facts/Central_Europe/VdxzSbJz">Central</a> and <a href="/facts/Western_Europe/YmWlV59w">Western Europe</a> (after the <a href="/facts/Danube/8lMeM9xg">Danube</a>), at about 1,230 km (760 mi), with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s (100,000 cu ft/s). It also contains the <a href="/facts/List_of_waterfalls_by_flow_rate/sIYBd7Cr">most powerful waterfall</a> in Europe, the <a href="/facts/Rhine_Falls/jE2MKjp1">Rhine Falls</a>.
The Rhine and the Danube comprised much of the <a href="/facts/Roman_Empire/l4E1aUuV">Roman Empire</a>'s <a href="/facts/Limes_Germanicus/oAvrRTyH">northern inland boundary</a>, and the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway bringing trade and goods deep inland since those days. The various castles and defenses built along it attest to its prominence as a waterway in the <a href="/facts/Holy_Roman_Empire/6mdobnXN">Holy Roman Empire</a>. Among the largest and most important cities on the Rhine are <a href="/facts/Cologne/U2qmyGga">Cologne</a>, <a href="/facts/Rotterdam/p8LbhGmE">Rotterdam</a>, <a href="/facts/D%25C3%25BCsseldorf/twteRHCh">Düsseldorf</a>, <a href="/facts/Duisburg/pbQ3cwal">Duisburg</a>, <a href="/facts/Strasbourg/MTdQtoPy">Strasbourg</a>, <a href="/facts/Arnhem/uxggSjTy">Arnhem</a>, and <a href="/facts/Basel/EzXbzbUx">Basel</a>.

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Rhine