Noord (river)


The Noord is a short tidal river in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland.
The Noord starts at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river forks into the Oude Maas and the Noord. It joins the Lek at the city of Ridderkerk and Kinderdijk, and the combined stream is thereafter known as the Nieuwe Maas. The distance is about nine kilometres. The direction of its water flow depends on the tides.
The Noord River separates IJsselmonde island from the Alblasserwaard mainland to the east. There are two connections between them:
During the early Middle Ages the river was considered to be the continuation of the Merwede river and was named accordingly. However, as a result of the St. Elizabeth's floods the Merwede found a new and shorter path to the sea and the stretch leading north changed into a brackish estuary. From that moment on it was called the Noord. When the flow of the Merwede was better distributed among its lower branches, the Noord returned to its former state as a tidal freshwater river, but the name remained Noord.
File:Rijn Maas Delta.jpg|thumb|250px|none|The lower part of the Rhine-Meuse Delta
Category:Rivers of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta
Category:Alblasserwaard
Category:Drechtsteden
Category:IJsselmonde
Category:Rivers of South Holland
Category:Rivers of the Netherlands
Category:Geography of Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht
Category:Economy of Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht