S.4 Geog Vol. 1 Rhinelands Switzerland Caltec S.4

1 REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF RHINE LANDS Introduction Rhine lands refers to t he region in Western Europe that is drained by the great Rhine river comprising of five basic countries. • Netherlands • Germany • Luxemburg • Switzerland • Belgium Rhinelands has a land coverage of 3 50,000 sq.km and a population of about 120 million people. It is currently getting populated by migrants from all over the world seeking for jobs, citizenship, medication and education opportunities. Latitudinally it extend s from 42 º- 54º N and 03 º- 13º E. It is bordered by the North Sea in the North, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria in the Ea st, Italy in the South and France in the West. (Sketch map of Rhine lands region ) Drainage Rhine lands is drained by a diverse drainage system wit h the Rhine river as dominant plus its tributaries and other rivers which stream f rom different parts of the region and empty their water into large water bodies like North sea, Baltic sea, Black sea and Mediterranean sea . These include the following; Rhine, Rho ne, Danube, Elbe, Inn, Ticino/Po, Weser, Scheldt etc. • Rhine river- streams from the Swiss A lps through Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands into the North Sea. • Rhone river- streams from the Swiss A lps through France to the Mediterranean Sea. • Weser ri ver- streams from Germany flowing into the North Sea . • Elbe river - streams from Czechoslovakia through Poland and Germany into the North Sea. • Danube river - streams from South Germany through Austria into t he Black sea. • Inn river - streams from the Swis s Alps through Austria and links with Danube in South Germany flowing into the Black sea. • Ticino/Po river - streams from the Swiss Alps through …