The Rhine was used from Roman times to transport trade and goods deep into inland Europe, with the many castles and fortifications built up around the Middle Rhine attesting to its importance.
People Also Ask
The Basel Rhine Swim is famous worldwide and attracts large numbers of tourists to the border city each year. But even if it's not time for the organized Rhine Swim, you can go for a refreshing dip in the river on hot summer days.
Europe's hot, dry summer means that the water level on the Rhine, Western Europe's most important waterway, is at a record low, making it too shallow for many ships to pass — a problem for a country that depends on the river for 80% of its water freight.
Characteristics of the riverIt is 150 metres wide and 20-25 metres deep . The water falls over white limestone into its original riverbed. There are the tributary rivers Wutach (from the east), Thur and Aare (from the west).
In the Netherlands, about 5 million people get their drinking water from the Rhine. Gerards Stroomberg, of RIWA, the association that represents the interests of drinking water companies that use the Rhine as a source of water, said “What we see is that the substances we encounter are increasingly difficult to remove.