Maas
Maas is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index, part of the Meuse system. 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
- System
- Meuse
- Coordinates
- 51.72°, 5.07°
About Maas
The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt Delta. It has a total length of 925 km (575 miles).
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Meuse (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Maas in Depth
Geography
The Meuse rises in Pouilly-en-Bassigny, commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse on the Langres plateau in France from where it flows northwards past Sedan (the head of navigation) and Charleville-Mézières into Belgium.
At Namur it is joined by the Sambre. Beyond Namur the Meuse winds eastwards and passes Liège before turning north. The river then forms part of the Belgian-Dutch border, except that at Maastricht the border lies further to the west. In the Netherlands it continues northwards through Venlo closely along the border to Germany, then turns towards the west, where it runs parallel to the Waal and forms part of the extensive Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, together with the Scheldt to its south and the Rhine to the north.
History
From 1301, the upper Meuse roughly marked the western border of the Holy Roman Empire with the Kingdom of France, after Count Henry III of Bar had to receive the western part of the County of Bar (Barrois mouvant) as a French fief from the hands of King Philip IV. In 1408, a Burgundian army led by John the Fearless went to the aid of John III against the citizens of Liège, who were in open revolt. After the battle, which saw the men from Liège defeated, John ordered the drowning in the Meuse of burghers and noblemen in Liège whose loyalties he suspected.
The border remained relatively stable until the annexation of the Three Bishoprics Metz, Toul and Verdun by King Henry II in 1552 and the occupation of the Duchy of Lorraine by the forces of King Louis XIII in 1633.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Meuse (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Maas: Key Facts
| Length | 950 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 230 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 36,000 km² |
| Source | Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse |
| Mouth | North Sea |
| Drainage system | Meuse basin |
| Tributaries | Rur, Sambre, Dieze, Ourthe, Niers, Lesse, Semois, Chiers |
Facts from Wikidata Q41986 (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
Maas: Quick Answers
- Where is Maas?
- Maas is located in France and Netherlands and Belgium, at 51.7221° N, 5.0714° E.
- Are there dams on the Maas?
- No dam on the Maas is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.
- Which river system is the Maas part of?
- The Maas is part of the Meuse system.