Nieuwe Merwede in the context of "Creek (stream)"

Dordrecht (Dutch: [ˈdɔrdrɛxt] ), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, pronounced [dɔrt] ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, and Zoetermeer, with a population of 123,000 (2025).

The municipality covers the entire Dordrecht Island, also often called Het Eiland van Dordt ("the Island of Dordt"), bordered by the rivers Oude Maas, Beneden Merwede, Nieuwe Merwede, Hollands Diep, and Dordtsche Kil. Dordrecht is the largest and most important city in the Drechtsteden and is also part of the Randstad, the main conurbation in the Netherlands.

The Beneden Merwede (Dutch pronunciation: [bəˌneːdə ˈmɛrʋeːdə]; "Lower Merwede") is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. It starts as the continuation of the Boven Merwede after the branching-off of the Nieuwe Merwede ship canal. It flows from Hardinxveld-Giessendam to Dordrecht, where it splits into the Noord and Oude Maas rivers. Its length is 14.8 km. The river is part of the main shipping route between the port of Rotterdam and the industrial region of the Ruhr, Germany.

There is a road bridge and, more to the east, a railroad bridge between the railway stations Dordrecht Stadspolders and Hardinxveld-Giessendam on the line Dordrecht-Gorinchem.

The Merwede (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɛrʋeːdə]; etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the Old Dutch merwe or merowe, a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht and Papendrecht. The river is part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and is mostly fed by the river Rhine.

At first, a disconnected branch of the Meuse joins the Waal at Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede (Upper Merwede). A few kilometers downstream it splits into the Beneden Merwede (Lower Merwede) on the right and the Nieuwe Merwede (New Merwede) on the left. All these rivers are tidal. The Nieuwe Merwede joins the Bergse Maas near Lage Zwaluwe to form the Hollands Diep estuary, and separates the Island of Dordrecht from the Biesbosch National Park. The Beneden Merwede splits into the Noord River and Oude Maas near Papendrecht.

The Bergsche Maas (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɛr(ə)xsə ˈmaːs]; current spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the Bergse Maas. The Afgedamde Maas flows north until its confluence with the river Waal (the main distributary of the river Rhine) to form the Merwede, while the Bergse Maas continues west as the main distributary of the Maas. Part of the Merwede (the Nieuwe Merwede) rejoins the Bergse Maas to form the Hollands Diep estuary.