River · Belgium
Scheldt
Scheldt is the most important river of Belgium. It starts in northern France, crosses Belgium past the port city of Antwerp and reaches the North Sea through the wide Western Scheldt in the Netherlands.
Picture credit: Socket0 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Franzfoto (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Scheldt?
The river starts here: Gouy in northern France.
It ends in the North Sea through the Western Scheldt.
Countries on the river: Belgium.
The story behind it
This is a tidal river: twice a day the sea pushes its way in, and the water rises and falls even far inland near Ghent. That is why Antwerp, sitting many kilometres from the coast, could grow into one of the biggest ports in Europe, with container ships as long as city streets. Along the lower course, dikes and special flood meadows are meant to swallow storm tides before they reach the towns. For a long time the water was dirty and almost no fish could live in it. After many years of cleaning, eels, flounder and even seals and porpoises have come back upstream. People cycle on the dikes, watch wading birds on the mudflats and wait for the big ships to pass under the raised bridges.
Questions children ask
How long is the Scheldt?
The whole river is about 350 kilometres long, and roughly 200 kilometres of that run through Belgium. The rest lies in northern France and in the Netherlands.
Which countries does the Scheldt flow through?
It is counted here as the main river of Belgium, where its middle course lies. The river begins in France and its last, widest part belongs to the Netherlands.
Where does the Scheldt flow into?
It flows into the North Sea through the Western Scheldt, a broad arm of water in the Netherlands. Large ocean ships use this route to reach the port of Antwerp.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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