Waal (river)

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The Waal is a river in The Netherlands. It is the main branch of the Rhine, one of Europe's longest rivers. The Rhine originates in Switzerland and flows North for about 700 km through Germany; it bends West near the city of Kleve and crosses the Dutch-German border near Emmerich am Rhein. About 10 km inside the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into two branches, the Northbound branch is the Pannerdensch kanaal (canal called after the city of Pannerden) that connects the Rhine to the Nederrijn (Niederrhein). The main branch (65% of the Rhine water) flows to the west and is called the Waal. After about 80 km the Waal merges with the Meuse river; the joint rivers are called the Merwede; together they flow into the North Sea.

The river Waal is a very busy shipping route connecting the important Rotterdam harbor with North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), one of the most industrialized Länder (states) of Germany.

The Waal is connected to the Meuse by the Maas-Waal kanaal (near Nijmegen) and to Amsterdam by the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal (near the city of Tiel).

Traditionally, the Waal is one of the grote rivieren (great rivers) that split The Netherlands into a Northern (Calvinistic) part and a Southern (Roman Catholic) part. For several centuries (since the reformation) this was a very noticeable division in the country, but by the 20th century secularization, urbanization, and increased mobility of the population, this distinction has largely faded away.