Inde | |
---|---|
Native name | L'Inde (French) |
Location | |
Countries | Germany and Belgium |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Hautes Fagnes |
• elevation | ±400 m (1,300 ft) |
Mouth | |
• location | Rur |
• coordinates | 50°53′58″N 6°21′46″E / 50.89944°N 6.36278°E |
Length | 54.1 km (33.6 mi) [1] |
Basin size | 374 km2 (144 sq mi) [1] |
Basin features | |
Progression | Rur→ Meuse→ North Sea |
The Inde (French: L'Inde) is a small river in Belgium and in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Geography
The Inde is a left (western) tributary of the Rur/Roer, in eastern Belgium and in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany.
Its source is near Raeren, in Eastern Belgium. The Inde runs through Aachen-Kornelimünster, Eschweiler, and Inden. Its mouth is on the Rur near Jülich. Because of lignite opencast mining, a section of the course was diverted near Inden-Lamersdorf in 2003 .
Tributaries of the Inde include the streams: Omerbach, Otterbach, Saubach, Vichtbach, and Wehebach.
History
Its name is of Celtic origin: Inda. The Inde has a counterpart, a "small Inde", in France: the Andelle, which is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) long river in the French département Seine-Maritime and whose original name was Indella.
The suffix -ella is an example for Celtic river names comparing for instance Mosella (= Moselle, i.e. "small Mosa (= Maas)"). For the name "Inde", the Indoeuropean stem *wed (= water) is supposed, like in words like Italian "onda" and French "onde" (= wave).
The Inde acquired historical importance when Emperor Louis the Pious founded the Kornelimünster Abbey monastery along one of its old courses in 815.
See also
Inde (River).