IJssel
IJssel is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 52.32°, 6.07°
About IJssel
The IJssel (Dutch: [ˈɛisəl] ; Dutch Low Saxon: Iessel(t) [ˈisəl(t)]) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour.
It is sometimes called the Gelderse IJssel (IPA: [ˌɣɛldərsə ˈʔɛisəl] ; "Gueldern IJssel") to distinguish it from the Hollandse IJssel. It is in the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, the latter of which was named after this river. The Romans knew the river as Isala. It flows from Westervoort, on the east side of the city of Arnhem.
Similar to the Nederrijn which shares its short inflow, the Pannerdens Kanaal, it is a minor discharge of the Rhine. At the fork where the Kanaal is sourced the Rhine takes the name the Waal. This splitting-off is west of the German border. The Waal in turn interweaves with other rivers and the lower course of the Nederrijn, which altogether is known as the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta.
The name contains the digraph ij, used throughout modern Dutch orthography, which is why both letters appear capitalized (as in: IJmuiden and IJsselmeer).
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: IJssel (CC BY-SA 4.0).
IJssel in Depth
History
Before the Roman Warm Period, the Zuiderzee in highly glaciated times was a brackish, sometimes tidal, very broad set of mudflats, the Vlies (Latin: Flevo). The IJssel and Amstel kept a saline-freshwater balance, and northward flow, enabling islands and banks to build up. Among these are rare zones just above sea level: Kampen, Elburg and north-east bank once wooded strip from Nijemirdum to Stavoren.
However, the North Sea, locally to form (or re-form) the Zuiderzee, reasserted itself – the so-called Dunkirk transgressions.
By the time these were tamed (terraformed) the IJssel had formed many of its new short distributaries to dissipate its flow.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: IJssel (CC BY-SA 4.0).
IJssel: Key Facts
| Length | 123 km |
|---|---|
| Drainage basin | 4,270 km² |
| Mouth | Ketelmeer |
| Tributaries | Oude IJssel, Berkel, Schipbeek, Twentekanaal |
Facts from Wikidata Q217818 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
IJssel: Quick Answers
- Where is IJssel?
- IJssel is located in Netherlands, at 52.3183° N, 6.0706° E.
- Are there dams on the IJssel?
- No dam on the IJssel is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.