Geography
The river originally began where two smaller rivers, the Drecht and Kromme Mijdrecht, joined together, a little south of Uithoorn. After the construction of a canal, the Amstel-Drecht Kanaal, the river (including the canal) now begins where the Drecht and another canal, the Aarkanaal, meet one another, near the town of Nieuwveen. Tributary rivers are the Kromme Mijdrecht, Bullewijk and Waver.
The river's mouth is in Amsterdam, where it meets the IJ bay. However, in 1936 the last part of the river (called Rokin) was filled in, so the river now ends at Muntplein, although it remains connected to the IJ through subterranean pipes.
The river contains only one island (52°17′15″N 4°53′15″E / 52.2875°N 4.8875°E / 52.2875; 4.8875), named Amsteleiland (Amstel Island). The only road leading to it belongs to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, but the island itself is part of the municipality of Amstelveen. It has an area of roughly 0.05 km².
Read more about this topic: Amstel
Famous quotes containing the word geography:
“Ktaadn, near which we were to pass the next day, is said to mean “Highest Land.” So much geography is there in their names.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges. Or, to change the figure, total science is like a field of force whose boundary conditions are experience.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.”
—Derek Wall (b. 1965)