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Water divide
 
 
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A drainage divide, water divide, divide or (outside North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
) watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
s (catchments). In hill
Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct Summit , although in areas with Escarpment a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit ....
y country, the divide lies along topographical
Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, Natural satellite, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features ....
 peaks
Pyramidal peak

A pyramidal peak, or sometimes in its most extreme form called a glacial horn, is a mountaintop that has been modified by the action of ice during glaciation and frost weathering....
 and ridge
Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature that features a continuous elevational crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size....
s, but in flat country (especially where the ground is marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
y) 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 river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, and even to different sides of a region or continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
.

Drainage divides are important geographical
Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth"....
, and often also political
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 boundaries
Border

Borders define geography boundaries of political geography or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or Subnational entity. They may foster the setting up of buffer zones....
.






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Wasscherscheiden
A drainage divide, water divide, divide or (outside North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
) watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
s (catchments). In hill
Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct Summit , although in areas with Escarpment a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit ....
y country, the divide lies along topographical
Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, Natural satellite, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features ....
 peaks
Pyramidal peak

A pyramidal peak, or sometimes in its most extreme form called a glacial horn, is a mountaintop that has been modified by the action of ice during glaciation and frost weathering....
 and ridge
Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature that features a continuous elevational crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size....
s, but in flat country (especially where the ground is marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
y) 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 river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, and even to different sides of a region or continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
.

Drainage divides are important geographical
Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth"....
, and often also political
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 boundaries
Border

Borders define geography boundaries of political geography or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or Subnational entity. They may foster the setting up of buffer zones....
. Road
Road

A road is an identifiable Road number, way or Trail between Location . Roads are typically smoothed, Pavement , or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or Maintenance, repair and operations....
s (such as ridgeway
Ridgeway

*A ridgeway is a road or path that follows the highest part of the landscape....
s) and rail tracks
Rail tracks

Rail tracks are used on rail transports , which, together with Railroad switch , guide trains without the need for steering. Tracks consist of two parallel steel Rail profile, which are laid upon Railroad tie that are embedded in track ballast to form the railroad track....
 often follow divides to minimise grades (gradients), and to avoid marshes and rivers.

A divide is also known as:
  • A watershed, the line between drainage basin
    Drainage basin

    A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
    s – shedding is an old term for splitting or dividing, so it is the line which divides the water (however in North America "watershed" has come to mean the drainage basin itself);
  • a water parting;
  • a height of land (in Canada
    Canada

    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
    ).


Types

Drainage divides can be grouped in three types:
  • Continental divide
    Continental Divide

    The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Divide or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the drainage basin that drain into the Pacific Ocean from, 1) those river systems which drain into the Atlantic Ocean , and 2)...
A divide in which the waters on each side flow to different oceans (example: the Nile and Congo
Congo River

The Congo River is the largest river in Western Central Africa. Its overall length of 4,700 km makes it the second longest in Africa ....
 divide, Lunghin Pass triple divide)
  • Major drainage 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
Yellow River

The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length in the world at 4,845 kilometers ....
 basin and the Yangtze
Yangtze River

The Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang , is the longest river in China and Asia, and the List of rivers by length in the world, after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon River in South America....
)
  • Minor drainage divide
The waters part but eventually join again at a river confluence (example: the Mississippi
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
 and Missouri
Missouri River

The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Madison River, Jefferson River, and Gallatin River rivers in Montana, and flows through Missouri River Valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St....
 divide)


Drainage divides are a hindrance to river navigation
Navigation

Navigation is the process of reading, and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks....
. In pre-industrial times water divides were crossed at portage
Portage

Portage refers to the practice of carrying a canoe or other boat over land to avoid an obstacle on the water route , or between two bodies of water ....
s. Later, canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s were built to connect the adjoining drainage basins.

See also

  • European Watershed
    European Watershed

    The European Watershed is the line which divides the drainage basins of the major rivers of Germany; the Rhine river, which originates in the Swiss Alps and empties into the North Sea via the Netherlands, and the Danube River, which originates in the Black Forest and flows eastward emptying into the Black Sea....
  • Mountain pass
    Mountain pass

    In a range of hills, or especially of mountain range, a pass is a saddle point in between two areas of higher elevation. If following the lowest possible route through a mountain range, a pass is locally the highest point on that route....