Main European water divides (red lines) separating catchments (gray regions).

A water divide, drainage divide, or simply divide is the separation between neighbouring drainage basins (catchments). In hilly country, the divide lies along topographical peaks and ridges, but in flat country or on a high plateau (especially where the ground is marshy) the divide may be invisible - just a more or less notional line on the ground on either side of which falling raindrops will start a journey to different rivers, and even to different sides of a country or continent. Water divides are important geographical, and often also political, boundaries. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 608 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 1184 pixel, file size: 588 KB, MIME type: image/png) Grafik zeigt die Europäischen Flußeinzugsgebiete und Hauptwasserscheiden. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 608 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 1184 pixel, file size: 588 KB, MIME type: image/png) Grafik zeigt die Europäischen Flußeinzugsgebiete und Hauptwasserscheiden. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... It has been suggested that Geomorphometry be merged into this article or section. ... Categories: Stub ... A ridge is a geological feature that features a continuous elevational crest for some distance. ... Geography (from the Greek words Geo (γη) or Gaea (γαια), both meaning Earth, and graphein (γραφειν) meaning to describe or to writeor to map) is the study of the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the Earth, including human life and the effects of human activity. ... Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. ... Border stone at Passo San Giacomo between Val Formazza in Italy and Val Bedretto in Switzerland Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or subnational administrative divisions. ...

A divide is also known as:

• a watershed (although in North America this term is old-fashioned or nontechnical, since it usually refers to the drainage basin);
• a water parting;
• a height of land (in Canada).

This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

Types of water divide

Water divides can be grouped in three types:

• Continental divide — A divide in which the waters on each side flow to different oceans (example: the Nile and Congo divide)
• Major water divide — The waters on each side of the divide never meet again, but do flow into the same ocean (example: the divide between the Yellow River basin and the Yangtze)
• Minor water divide — The waters part but eventually meet again at a river confluence (example: the Mississippi and Missouri divide)

Water divides are a hindrance to river navigation. In pre-industrial times water divides were crossed at portages. Later canals were built to connect the adjoining drainage basins. A continental divide is a line of elevated terrain which forms a border between two watersheds such that water falling on one side of the line eventually travels to one ocean or body of water, and water on the other side travels to another, generally on the opposite side of... There is also Nile, a death metal band from South Carolina, USA. The Nile in Egypt Length 6 695 km Elevation of the source 1 134 m Average discharge 2 830 m³/s Area watershed 3 400 000 km² Origin Africa Mouth the Mediterranean Basin countries Uganda - Sudan - Egypt The... The Yellow River or Golden River (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin:  ; Wade-Giles: Hwang-ho, sometimes simply called the River in ancient Chinese) is the second longest river in China (after Yangtze River) and the seventh longest in the world. ... Afternoon light on the jagged grey mountains rising from the Yangtze River gorge The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world after the Nile in Africa, the Amazon in South America. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest named river in North America, with a length of 2320 miles (3733 km) from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. ... The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States. ... For the Gentoo Linux package manager, see Portage (software). ... The Canal du Midi, Toulouse, France Canals are man-made channels for water. ...

External links

• Water divide and "Canal du Midi" (in French)