The Dender () or Dendre () is a long river in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the right tributary of the river

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

. The confluence of the two rivers is in the Belgian town of

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; , ) is a city in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders in Belgium. The Municipalities of Belgium, municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, M ...

. The Western or Little Dender is long and begins in Barry near Leuze-en-Hainaut at an elevation of about above sea level. It begins as several canals in the fields merging together to form the Little Dender. As such, it does not have any one specific source. The source of the Eastern Dender, which is long, is near Jurbise at a height of above sea level. The two rivers meet in the town of Ath. From that confluence, the river is called the Dender proper. From Ath, the Dender passes into the

Denderstreek The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut (province), Hainaut, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant, the region called after the river is situa ...

through the cities and towns of

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen proper and the follo ...

, south of which its tributary, the Mark, flows into it. From this confluence, the river continues to flow through Ninove,

Denderleeuw Denderleeuw () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Denderleeuw proper, and . In 2021, Denderleeuw had a total populati ...

, and Aalst, before ending in Dendermonde. The Dender is navigable up to Aalst for small ships up to 600 tons and further upstream for ships up to 350 tons. The Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek flows into the Dender at Hofstade.

Gallery

File:KaartDender.jpg, The course of the Dender File:Denderende Steden, pad langs de Dender in Aalst en Erembodegem.jpg, The Dender in Aalst and Erembodegem File:Geraardsbergen_Dender_R01.jpg, The Dender in

References

Rivers of Belgium Rivers of East Flanders Rivers of Hainaut (province) {{Belgium-river-stub