Rhinelands

Rhinelands refers to the region in Western Europe that is drained by the great Rhine river comprising of five basic countries.
• Netherlands
• Germany
• Luxemburg
• Switzerland
• Belgium
Rhinelands has a land coverage of 350,000 sq.km and a population of about 120 million people. It is currently getting populated by migrants from all over the world seeking for jobs, citizenship, medication and education opportunities.
Latitudinally it extends from 42º- 54º N and 03º- 13º E.
It is bordered by the North Sea in the North, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria in the East, Italy in the South and France in the West.

A map below showing Rhinelands

Drainage

Rhine lands is drained by a diverse drainage system with the Rhine river as dominant plus its tributaries and other rivers which stream from different parts of the region and empty their water into large water bodies like North sea, Baltic sea, Black sea and Mediterranean sea. These include the following; Rhine, Rhone, Danube, Elbe, Inn, Ticino/Po, Weser, Scheldt etc.
• Rhine river- streams from the Swiss Alps through Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands into the North Sea.
• Rhone river- streams from the Swiss Alps through France to the Mediterranean Sea.
• Weser river- streams from Germany flowing into the North Sea.

• Elbe river- streams from Czechoslovakia through Poland and Germany into the North Sea.
• Danube river- streams from South Germany through Austria into the Black sea.
• Inn river- streams from the Swiss Alps through Austria and links with Danube in South Germany flowing into the Black sea.
• Ticino/Po river- streams from the Swiss Alps through Italy to the Adriatic Sea.
• Scheldt river- streams from Belgium through Netherlands into the North Sea.
• Oder river- streams from the Poland region into the Baltic sea via the Germany border
(Sketch map showing Rhine lands drainage).

Climate

Rhinelands receives varied climate patterns. These include;
• Maritime- this is the most wide spread climate experienced in Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. It has warm summers and cool winters.
• Cool Continental- this is particularly experienced in Southern Germany with short warm summers and cool winters.

• Alpine- this is dominant in Switzerland caused by the Alpine mountains/ Alps that induce snow throughout the year.

Comparative study between Rhinelands and East Africa

• East Africa is made up of three countries- Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania including the Islands of Pemba, Zanzibar and Mafia. As per 2007, Rwanda and Burundi became part of East Africa following the revival of the East African Community. While Rhine lands is made up of five countries- Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland.
• East Africa has a population of about 110 million people with a population density of 25 persons per sq.km. While Rhine lands has a population of about 120 million people with a population density of 350 persons per sq.km.
• East Africa’s total area is nearly 5 times than that of Rhine lands while Rhine lands is estimated to be nearly ¾ of Tanzania.
• East Africa has two out-spoken arms of the Rift valley (eastern and western) bordered by plateaux and volcanic features while Rhine lands has one major Rift valley – Rhine, which is short and narrow from Basel in Switzerland to Mainz in Germany.
• East Africa’s landscape is largely influenced by vulcanicity while in Rhine lands; vulcanicity is limited to areas around the Black forest- at Harz and Eifel.
• East Africa comprises of old basement rocks punctuated with volcanicity while Rhine lands is made up of young basement rocks.
• In East Africa, glaciation is limited to Rwenzori, Kilimanjaro, Meru and Kenya mountains while in Rhine lands glaciation has largely influenced landscape.
• East Africa has many tribes with few ethnic groups while Rhine lands are basically made up of ethnic groups.
• East Africa’s dialect is dominated by Kiswahili and English as official languages while in Rhine lands German is the official language used besides others like Dutch, Latin, Swiss, Spanish.
• East Africa is situated in the Tropics while Rhine lands are situated in the Temperate region.
• East Africa’s highland areas are very fertile suitable for agriculture and settlement while the Rhine lands highland areas are infertile.
• In East Africa some rivers are not navigable while in Rhine lands all rivers are navigable e.g. Rhine, Danube, Scheldt, Iyssel, etc.
• East Africa experiences two climatic seasons – dry and wet, while Rhinelands has four climatic seasons- winter, spring, summer and autumn.