Which of the following statements regarding River Rhine is/are correct? 1. Rhine River is an important pathway for industrial activity in northern Germany. 2. Port of Rotterdam is located at the mouth of the Rhine River. Select the answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. The Rhine runs about 1,230 km from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea and is the busiest inland waterway in the world, carrying ocean-going ships and inland barges between them. Its middle course crosses the most heavily industrialised part of Germany: the Ruhr joins it from the east at Duisburg, and the coal, coke, iron and steel belt of North Rhine-Westphalia grew along that junction, with Cologne, Düsseldorf and Duisburg strung along the river. So statement 1 stands, with one qualification — that belt is in western Germany rather than the north in the strict sense, and the paper's ‘northern Germany’ is a loose description of it. Statement 2 stands as well. Rotterdam sits in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta at the seaward end of the river, is the largest seaport in Europe and the largest outside Asia, and owes its position to being the point where the Rhine's traffic meets ocean shipping. The old textbook phrasing that the port lies at the mouth of the Rhine describes exactly that role.
- (a)1 only — Drops the port. Rotterdam's whole economic logic is that it stands where the Rhine reaches the sea and can transfer cargo between ocean vessels and river barges.
- (b)2 only — Denies the industrial corridor, when the Ruhr region on the Rhine is the classic European example of heavy industry organised along a river.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Rejects both, though the Rhine is the most heavily used waterway in the world and Rotterdam is Europe's largest port.
The Rhine is the second-longest river of central and western Europe after the Danube, rising in the Swiss Alps and reaching the North Sea through the Dutch delta. It has been a trade route since Roman times and is navigable for around 700 km from Rotterdam up to Basel in Switzerland, which puts a landlocked country in touch with an ocean port. Its tributary the Ruhr gave its name to the industrial region around Essen, Dortmund and Duisburg, built on the coalfield beneath it. The Rhine also connects to the Danube through the Main–Danube canal, giving a through route from the North Sea to the Black Sea.
Both statements are of the kind that can be checked against a mental map rather than memorised. The industrial claim follows from the Ruhr coalfield sitting on a Rhine tributary; the port claim follows from the delta. The only thing to watch is the compass direction, since the Rhine industrial belt is in the west of Germany and not the north, so a very strict reader could quarrel with statement 1. Take the statement as intended, since nothing else in the item is in doubt. Present-day note: Duisburg on the Rhine is the largest inland port in the world and has become a terminus of rail freight from China, so the river's role has grown rather than shrunk.
- The Rhine is about 1,230 km long and is the second-longest river in central and western Europe after the Danube.
- It is navigable for roughly 700 km from Rotterdam up to Basel in Switzerland and is the world's most heavily used waterway.
- It flows through North Rhine-Westphalia, past Cologne, Düsseldorf and Duisburg, where the Ruhr joins it from the east.
- The Port of Rotterdam lies in the middle of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and is the largest seaport in Europe and the largest outside Asia.
- Rotterdam was the world's busiest port by annual cargo tonnage from 1962 until 2004.
- Placing the Rhine's industrial belt in northern rather than western Germany.
- Confusing the Rhine with the Rhone, which rises in the same Alps but flows south to the Mediterranean.
- Pairing Berlin with the Rhine; Berlin stands on the Spree.
As a two-statement item on a European river's industrial and port geography, or as a river-to-mouth or city-to-river pairing.
Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched ? City — River (a) Berlin : Rhine (b) London : Thames (c) New York : Hudson (d) Vienna : Danube
- (a) Berlin : Rhine
- (b) London : Thames
- (c) New York : Hudson
- (d) Vienna : Danube
Answer(a) Berlin : Rhine
The commonest error about this river, tested directly. Berlin stands on the Spree; the Rhine's cities are Cologne, Düsseldorf and Duisburg in the west of Germany.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists : List I (River) A. Danube B. Rhine C. Rhone D. Loire List II (Mouth of the river) 1. North sea 2. Black sea 3. Bay of Biscay 4. Mediterranean sea Code : A B C D
- (a) 2 1 4 3
- (b) 3 4 1 2
- (c) 2 4 1 3
- (d) 3 1 4 2
Answer(a) 2 1 4 3
Fixes where the river ends. The Rhine reaches the North Sea, which is why the port at its seaward end is Rotterdam and not a Mediterranean or Baltic harbour.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Rhine empties into which sea?
- (a)Baltic Sea
- (b)North Sea
- (c)Black Sea
- (d)Mediterranean Sea
Answer(b) North Sea — through the delta in the Netherlands, where Rotterdam stands.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Ruhr industrial region of Germany developed around a tributary of which river?
- (a)Elbe
- (b)Rhine
- (c)Danube
- (d)Oder
Answer(b) Rhine — the Ruhr joins it from the east at Duisburg, and the coal and steel belt grew along that junction.