IJssel IJssel Epidemic Category="Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta"Category="Rivers of the Netherlands"[image] River IJssel, sometimes called Gelderse IJssel (Gelderland IJssel) to avoid confusion with its Holland counterpart, is a 120 km long branch of the Rhine in the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel. It flows north from the City of Arnhem until it discharges into the IJsselmeer ("Lake IJssel", until the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee). In medieval times the Estuary of the IJssel was the Vlie. It is one of the three major Distributary branches into which the Rhine divides itself shortly after crossing the German-Dutch border, the other two being the Nether Rhine and Waal rivers. The name IJssel is thought to derive from the Germanic i sala, meaning "dark water".

The IJssel once was the lower part of the Oude IJssel ("Old IJssel", German Issel), a small river that rises in Germany and is now a 70 km long tributary of the IJssel, merging with the main IJssel at Doesburg. The connection between the Rhine and the IJssel was probably artificial, being dug by men under the Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus as a defence against Germanic tribes and to let Roman ships carry troops along it.

The following canals and Tributary streams connect to the IJssel:

Near the city of Kampen, the river IJssel flows into the IJsselmeer through a small delta, the branches of which are called, west to east, Keteldiep, Kattendiep, Noorddiep, Ganzendiep and Goot. Of these, the Keteldiep and Kattendiep channels are the main navigational arteries; the Noorddiep has been closed off at both sides.

Railroad bridges (with nearest train station on the left and right bank):

See also