Geography
The Main flows through the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg (forming the border with Bavaria for some distance) and Hesse. Its basin competes with the Danube for water; as a result, many of its boundaries are identical with those of the European Watershed.
The Main begins near Kulmbach in Franconia at the joining of its two headstreams, the Red Main (Roter Main) and the White Main (Weißer Main). The Red Main rises in the Franconian Jura mountain range, 50 km (31 mi) in length, and runs through Creussen and Bayreuth. The White Main rises in the mountains of the Fichtelgebirge; it is 41 km (25 mi) long. In its upper and middle section it runs in valleys of the German Highlands. In its lower section it crosses the Lower Main Lowlands (Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin and northern Upper Rhine Plain) to Wiesbaden, where it discharges into the Rhine River. Major tributaries of the Main are the Regnitz, the Franconian Saale, the Tauber, and the Nidda.
The name derives from the Latin Moenus or Menus, and is not related to the name of the city Mainz (Latin: Moguntiacum).
Read more about this topic: Main (river)
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