Everything about The Scheldt totally explained
The
Scheldt (Dutch:
Schelde, French
Escaut, Latin
Scaldis) is a 350
km(External Link
) long
river in northern
France, western
Belgium and the southwestern part of
the Netherlands. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English
sceald "shallow", Modern English
shoal, Low German
schol, Frisian
skol, and Swedish
skäll "thin".
Course
The headwaters of the Scheldt are in
Gouy, in the
Aisne department of northern
France. It flows north through
Cambrai and
Valenciennes, and enters
Belgium near
Tournai. In
Ghent, where it receives the
Lys, its main tributary, the Scheldt turns east. Near
Antwerp, the largest city on its banks, the Scheldt flows west into
the Netherlands towards the
North Sea.
Originally there were two branches from that point: the
Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt) and the
Westerschelde (Western Scheldt) but in the 19th century the river was cut off from its eastern (actually: northern) branch by a dyke that connects
Zuid-Beveland with the mainland (
North Brabant). Today the river therefore continues into the Westerschelde
estuary only, passing
Terneuzen to reach the North Sea between
Breskens in
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and
Vlissingen (Flushing) on
Walcheren.
The Scheldt is an important
waterway, and has been made navigable from its mouth up to Cambrai. The port of
Antwerp, the second largest in Europe, lies on its banks. Several
canals (including the
Albert Canal) connect the Scheldt with the basins of the
Rhine,
Meuse and
Seine, and with the industrial areas around
Brussels,
Liège,
Lille,
Dunkirk and
Mons.
The Scheldt flows through the following
departments of France,
provinces of Belgium,
provinces of the Netherlands and towns:
History
The Scheldt estuary has always had considerable commercial and strategic importance. In
Roman days it was important for the shipping lanes to
Britannia. The
Franks took control over the region around
260 and at first interfered with the Roman supply routes as pirates. Later they became allies of the Romans. With the various divisions of the
Frankish Empire in the
9th century, the Scheldt eventually became the border between the West and the East Empire, later named
France and the
Holy Roman Empire.
This status quo remained intact - at least on paper - until
1528, although by then both
Flanders on the left bank and Zeeland and
Brabant on the right were part of the
Habsburg possessions of the
Seventeen Provinces. Antwerp was the most prominent harbor of Western Europe. After this city
fell back under Spanish control in
1585 the
Dutch Republic took control of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, a strip of land on the left shore, and closed the Scheldt for shipping. This shifted the trade to the ports of
Amsterdam and
Middelburg and seriously crippled Antwerp - an important and traumatic element in the history of relations between the Netherlands and what was to become
Belgium.
Access to the river was the subject of the brief 1784 '
Kettle War', and - in the
French Revolutionary era shortly afterwards - the river was reopened in
1792. Once Belgium had claimed its independence from the Netherlands in
1830 the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships headed for Belgian ports.
In
World War II the estuary once again became a contested area. Despite allied control of Antwerp, in September 1944 German forces still occupied fortified positions throughout the Scheldt estuary west and north, preventing any allied shipping to the port. In the
Battle of the Scheldt, the
Canadian First Army successfully cleared the area, allowing supply convoys direct access to the port of
Antwerp by November of 1944.
Tributaries and sub-tributaries
Western Scheldt or Honte (Vlissingen)
