Rhine is another noted river in Switzerland. Two tributaries in Western Europe merge to form the Rhine River. It flows 1319 kilometers in Eastern Switzerland before flowing to North and Northwest to Germany and Netherlands. Out of 1319 kilometers only 870 kilometers is navigable. It has many canals one of which connects it with the Rhone river system.

In Switzerland Rhine starts at the meeting point of Vorderrhein and Hinterhein.Vorderrhein is also termed as Anterior Rhine. The Hinterhein is called as Posterior Rhine. Rhine flows north from Reiuchenau as Alpenrhein. Then it passes Chur. This is the place where Rhine forms the border between Leichtenstein and Austria on the East side.
It then drains into Lake Constance in the Western part. It again reemerges from the same lake that flows westwards passes the Rhine falls and then joins river Aare.

In the year 1868, this river was free for international navigation. This is the most trafficked waterway in the entire world. The large cities, which this river encompasses, are Strasbourg, Ludwigshafen; Weisbaden Etc.This River is also famous for some of the bridges during its course through Switzerland. These are
Filisur- Reichenau-Tamins, Untervaz, BadRagaz, Maienfeld etc.
The important canals connected to this river are as follows
1) Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
2) Grand Canal d'Alsace
3) Rhine-Herne Canal
4) Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
5) Canal Of Druscus.
This river has a great deal of military relevance.
The Battle of Teutoburg Forest- After this battle people treated Rhine as the northern frontier of Roman Empire. This Rhine was the warehouse of military forces for the First French Empire. This is the place where Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine. This river and its basin are also very rich in historic relevance.
You can find the name of Rhine as Rhenus in ancient Roman literature. The Romans considered Rhine River as the last border of civilization.
The Roman Empire used to park their troops in the upstream and downstream portion of Rhine. The first urban settlement was back in 38 B.C.
However, the most noted city in the Rhine basin was Cologne, which was build by the Romans.
Subsequently with the confluence of multiple tribes along the Rhine, they divided the areas based on languages used and it became a political border. Until now, this river along with its basin continues to be one of the mystique political borders of the World.
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