Europe's waterway network is more than 50,000 kilometers long but very unevenly distributed across the Continent. Except for the Danube, which flows to the east into the Black Sea, the waterways are located and flow through the northwest. The industrial areas of Germany, Switzerland and northeast France are connected via the Rhine and its branches, and the Maas River and adjoining navigable waterways connect Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France. The channel between the Main and Danube rivers linking the North Sea with the Black Sea connects the larger industrial areas in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria with Germany. And via the Elbe and the Oder, the industrial areas in Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic are linked.
This interconnection is important, as water-based transport is less expensive than land-based transport — varying based on the particular circumstances and construction costs for the specific type and location of man-made infrastructure, it can be more than 10 times cheaper. Possessing a navigable waterway network allows a country to spend the capital it would otherwise need to put toward building transport networks on other investments that could increase its economic potential.
