Why are European rivers suitable for
inland navigation?
Answers
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Europe has 45,000 km of navigable waterways, which is more than what even the United States has (40,000 km).
A waterway is navigable only if the water is deep, slow and wide enough for certain types of ships to pass through. Europe has a lot of these waterways for two reasons:
Natural geography - Europe has two main flat regions, the North European Plain and the East European Plain. The North Plain is able to be so flat and smooth because of highly stable geology, and a lack of tectonic activity since Avalonia and Baltica met 550 million years ago. The East European plain is made of sediments that were transformed 800 million years ago, and is also very stable. This flat, sediment-based terrain allows for wide and slow rivers.
Human intervention – Europe, especially Western Europe, was the cradle of industrialism. Canals were always a very important part of transport, even after the advent of railroads. Starting around 1800 we see an explosion of canal-building in England, the Netherlands and other areas. This added greatly to the amount of navigable rivers and waterways for Europe to use.
Europe has 45,000 km of navigable waterways, which is more than what even the United States has (40,000 km).
A waterway is navigable only if the water is deep, slow and wide enough for certain types of ships to pass through. Europe has a lot of these waterways for two reasons:
Natural geography - Europe has two main flat regions, the North European Plain and the East European Plain. The North Plain is able to be so flat and smooth because of highly stable geology, and a lack of tectonic activity since Avalonia and Baltica met 550 million years ago. The East European plain is made of sediments that were transformed 800 million years ago, and is also very stable. This flat, sediment-based terrain allows for wide and slow rivers.
Human intervention – Europe, especially Western Europe, was the cradle of industrialism. Canals were always a very important part of transport, even after the advent of railroads. Starting around 1800 we see an explosion of canal-building in England, the Netherlands and other areas. This added greatly to the amount of navigable rivers and waterways for Europe to use.