Western Scheldt

Western Scheldt
or Westerschelde

Estuary, southwestern Netherlands.

An inlet of the North Sea at the mouth of the Schelde River, it flows west for about 30 mi (50 km) through the Delta Islands to the North Sea. It has been an important transportation route since the 16th century, when Holy Roman Emperor Charles V designated Vlissingen as his port of embarkation from the Netherlands. It continues to operate as an important shipping route to many destinations, including Antwerp.

* * *

▪ estuary, The Netherlands
Dutch  Westerschelde, 

      estuary, flowing westward for about 30 miles (50 km) through the Delta Islands in southwestern Netherlands (Netherlands, The) to the North Sea. The former islands of Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland (now a peninsula) are located to the north of the estuary. The Zeeuws Vlaanderen region, consisting mainly of land that was reclaimed during the 16th and 17th centuries, lies to the south. The Western Scheldt is formed in the east where the Scheldt River enters The Netherlands from Belgium. It has been an important transportation route since the 16th century, when the Holy Roman emperor Charles V designated Vlissingen (on Walcheren) as his port of embarkation from the Netherlands. Unlike inlets to the north, the Western Scheldt continues to be kept open to the North Sea as an important and very crowded shipping route to Antwerp and destinations on canalized waterways farther north, south, and east.

      Dikes built along most of the coastline prevent flooding. The estuary is not bridged; ferry services operate between Vlissingen and Breskens, and Perkpolder and Kruiningen.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Western Scheldt — Instead, the dykes around it have been heightened and reinforced.Many ships have sunk in the Western Scheldt. Following an agreement between the Netherlands and Flanders governments in 1995, many of these wrecks have been removed to improve… …   Wikipedia

  • Western Scheldt Tunnel — Note: This article has been translated from the [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerscheldetunnel Dutch] version of this page. Western Scheldt Tunnel is a 6.6 kilometer tunnel in The Netherlands on highway N62 under the Western Scheldt estuary… …   Wikipedia

  • Western Scheldt Tunnel — El Western Scheldt Tunnel es un túnel de 6,6 km de longitud en la autopista holandesa N62, construido bajo el estuario del Río Escalda, entre las localidades de Ellewoutsdijk y Terneuzen. Es el túnel de caretera más largo de los Países Bajos …   Wikipedia Español

  • Scheldt — Infobox River | river name = Scheldt caption = The Scheldt in Antwerp origin = France mouth = North Sea coord|51|25|51|N|3|31|44|E|name=North Sea Scheldt|display=inline,title basin countries = France, Belgium, Netherlands length = 350 km (217 mi) …   Wikipedia

  • western — /wes teuhrn/, adj. 1. lying toward or situated in the west: our company s western office. 2. directed or proceeding toward the west: a western migration. 3. coming or originating from the west, as a wind. 4. (often cap.) of, pertaining to, living …   Universalium

  • Western Front (World War II) — Western Front Part of World War II …   Wikipedia

  • Western architecture — Introduction       history of Western architecture from prehistoric Mediterranean cultures to the present.       The history of Western architecture is marked by a series of new solutions to structural problems. During the period from the… …   Universalium

  • Western sculpture — ▪ art Introduction       three dimensional artistic forms produced in what is now Europe and later in non European areas dominated by European culture (such as North America) from the Metal Ages (Europe, history of) to the present.       Like… …   Universalium

  • Scheldt — /ʃɛlt/ (say shelt) noun a river flowing from northern France through western Belgium and south western Netherlands into the North Sea. About 435 km. Flemish, Schelde /ˈskɛldə (say skelduh). French, Escaut …  

  • Battle of the Scheldt — Part of World War II Buffalo amphibious vehicles taking Canadians across the Scheldt in Zeeland, 1944 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”