Main
Main 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
- 49.88°, 9.84°
About Main
The Main (German pronunciation: [ˈmaɪn] ) is a river in central Germany. It is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west for 525 kilometres (326 mi) to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, Hesse. The cities of Mainz and Wiesbaden are close to the confluence.
The largest cities on the Main are Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main and Würzburg. If the Weser-Werra are considered separate, it is the longest river lying entirely in Germany.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Main (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Main in Depth
Geography
The Main flows through the north and north-west of the state of Bavaria and then across southern Hesse; against the latter it demarcates a third state, Baden-Württemberg, east and west of Wertheim am Main, the northernmost town of that state.
The upper end of its basin opposes that of the Danube where the watershed is recognised by natural biologists, sea salinity studies (and hydrology science more broadly) as the European Watershed.
The Main begins near Kulmbach in Franconia at the joining of its two headstreams, the Red Main (Roter Main) and the White Main (Weißer Main). The Red Main originates in the Franconian Jura mountain range, 50 km (31 mi) in length, and runs through Creussen and Bayreuth. The White Main originates in the Fichtel Mountains; it is 41 km (25 mi) long.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Main (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Main: Key Facts
| Length | 524 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 195 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 27,292 km² |
| Source | Upper Franconia |
| Mouth | Rhine |
| Drainage system | Rhine basin |
| Tributaries | Regnitz, Tauber, Franconian Saale, Kinzig, Nidda, Itz, Wern, Gersprenz |
Facts from Wikidata Q1670 (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
Main: Quick Answers
- Where is Main?
- Main is located in Germany, at 49.8778° N, 9.8425° E.
- Are there dams on the Main?
- No dam on the Main is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.