# Rhine River Flows Upstream? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607 "2002-10-24T00:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/21 "2002-10-24T15:57:30Z")
Then there is [The Reversing Falls, at Saint John, New Brunswick](http://www.unb.ca/bruns/0001/issue5/news/reversingfalls.html) in Canada. A river that not only reverses it’s flow but actually has a waterfall that falls one way at low tide and the other way at high tide. As a child I sat and watched this thing for several hours and it is truely amazing. Of course the entire Bay of Fundy is an experience you should witness sometime in your life. Talk about non-intuative that thing is mind blowing. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/22 "2002-10-24T16:10:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\*. . .when I was in Egypt a couple of years ago, I was often confused about which way the Nile was flowing, because I found it hard to shake the “North is up” feeling. \*\* The **really** confusing thing about Egypt is not that the Nile flows north, but that the country is identified relative to the flow of the Nile. That is, the southern part of the country is called Upper Egypt because it’s upstream, and the northern part is called Lower Egypt. Understandable because of the historical importance of the Nile to the Egyptian culture. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/23 "2002-10-24T16:59:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*Technically the Mississippi River flows uphill. The delta end of the river is further from the center of the earth than is the mouth because the of the equatorial bulge of the earth. Centrifugal effect, or force if you will, is what does the job. \*\* Oh hell. Make that “The mouth of the river is further from the center of the earth than is the **source** because the of the equatorial bulge of the earth” Previewing can also screw you up if you don’t preview the complete post. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/24 "2002-10-24T18:58:16Z")
> [@](#): > > What is in any way weird about a river flowing north? Well, aside from the aforementioned overwhelming logical disconnect we all have from centuries of looking at maps with North at the top, and hence “up”, and South being “down”, and us expecting water to flow “down” … > [@](#): > > **All other things being equal,** there should be just as many rivers flowing north as flowing south, east, west or any point in-between. … all other things are not equal, of course. There is more land in the northern part of the world and more ocean in the southern part, so one might expect that, for all of that rainwater to make its way to the oceanwater in the south, there might, in truth, be more rivers with their mouths further south than their sources than vice-versa. I don’t have any data to back this up. Anyone know how many rivers are north-south and how many south-north? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/25 "2002-10-24T19:34:30Z")
The link that **lel** gave has details. You’re right that there are relatively few big rivers that flow north. Of the 10 longest rivers, generally speaking: 1. The Nile flows north 2. The Amazon flows east 3. The Mississippi/Missouri flows south 4. The Yangtze flows east 5. The Ob’ flows north 6. The Huang Ho flows southeast 7. The Yenisei flows north 8. The Paraná flows north 9. The Irtish flows northwest 10. The Congo flows all over the place - north, then west, then southwest. So, out of the world’s 10 longest rivers, four flow north and another two flow north for a significant part of their course. I think part of the reason for this common misconception may be that the huge rivers in Siberia, which flow north to the Arctic Ocean, are relatively unknown. (My mind is still boggling over the fact that people, subconsciously or not, associate “up on the map” with being “up on the ground”. Surely it’s not just me that has never thought that?) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/26 "2002-10-24T19:46:12Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re right that there are relatively few big rivers that flow north. Sorry, ignore that line - I think I’ve disproved it underneath! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/27 "2002-10-24T21:19:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by r\_k \* > \*\*(My mind is still boggling over the fact that people, subconsciously or not, associate “up on the map” with being “up on the ground”. Surely it’s not just me that has never thought that?) \*\* In the U.S., that notion has been enshrined in the language. I live in Virginia. Anyone heading for Boston says, “I’m going up to Boston tomorrow.” If they’re going to Miami, it becomes, “I’m flying down to Miami.” Don’t people who live in, say, Birmingham go “down to London” or “up to Scotland?” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/28 "2002-10-24T21:36:06Z")
Yes, we say the same thing. But I thought (and it looks like I could be wrong here) that most people knew that that was only a figure of speech… I mean, my girlfriend lives in Birmingham, I live in London (yep, really convenient :rolleyes: ) and sure I talk about “going up” to see her [TMI](or “going down” in her case, of course 😉 )[/TMI]. But I don’t think we mean it in the uphill/downhill sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/29 "2002-10-24T21:40:31Z")
Heh. That reminds me of an FoF story told to me about an imperious Gamecock (South Carolina) Civil War professor. “A-why,” he asked, “did the Nawth win the Civil Wahr?” My friend’s friend supposedly raised his hand and said, “because they were fighting downhill.” He was kicked out of the class. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/30 "2002-10-25T17:22:11Z")
Of course, people in Maine refer to their habitat directionally as “down Maine”. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/31 "2002-10-25T17:40:56Z")
That’s “down east”, I think– [http://www.downeast.com/faq.html](http://www.downeast.com/faq.html) > [@](#): > > What does Down East mean? > You’re not the first person to inquire about the meaning of > the expression “Down East.” When ships sailed from Boston > to ports in Maine (which were to the east of Boston), the > wind was at their backs, so they were sailing downwind, > hence the term “Down East.” And it follows that when they > returned to Boston they were sailing upwind; many Mainers > still speak of going “up to Boston,” despite the fact that the > city lies approximately fifty miles to the south of Maine’s > southern border. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607/32 "2002-10-25T18:01:29Z")
Railway terminology here in the UK uses “up” and “down”. In general on a multitrack route you get the down line which goes towards London and the up line going away from London. I do not know what they call lines which go nowhere near the capital. Pehaps this is the origin of the phrase " going down to London" [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhine-river-flows-upstream/133607.md?page=1)