The Eem (; formerly the Amer) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the central

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

with a length of approximately . The river is fed by the Vallei Canal and a number of

Veluwe The Veluwe () is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2; 420 sq. mi.) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand ...

creeks, the most important of which are the Heiligenberger Beek, the Barneveldse Beek and the Lunterse Beek, all of which come together in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. The river then runs through the Eem Valley to the east of Soest,

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. T ...

and

Eemnes Eemnes () is a municipality and a village in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The town of Eemnes Eemnes formerly consisted of two villages, Eemnes-Binnen ("Inner Eemnes") and Eemnes-Buiten ("Outer Eemnes"). These names referred to t ...

before emptying into the

Eemmeer The Eemmeer () is a lake situated in the middle of the Netherlands between the provinces of Flevoland, Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and North Holland. It measures and contains one small island, the Dode Hond (''Dead Dog''). The Eemmeer is one ...

. The Eem is responsible for the largest portion of the drainage of the Gelder Valley. The

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

s of the Eem are valuable scenic landscapes. Because of land

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

as a result of

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

, the primate lies higher than the surrounding land. When water levels drop in the summer, water is pumped from the

Nederrijn 300px, Course of the Nederrijn The Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; distinct from the Lower Rhine or further upstream) is the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine bend of Oude Rijn (Gelderland ...

to the Eem through the Vallei Canal. Because of

agricultural pollution Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The po ...

carried by the Eem towards the

, the biological richness of this lake is less than that of the other lakes which surround

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and newest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

. The Eem gives its name to the

Eemian The Last Interglacial, also known as the Eemian, was the interglacial period which began about 130,000 years ago at the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and ended about 115,000 years ago at the beginning of the Last Glacial Period. It cor ...

interglacial An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene i ...

era.

Gallery

Image:Koppelpoort Amersfoort 2008.jpg, The Eem at the Koppelpoort Image:Amersfoort-c-the river.jpg, The Eem in Amersfoort Image:MondingEem.JPG, Mouth of the Eem

External links

* * Rivers of Utrecht (province) Rivers of the Netherlands {{Netherlands-river-stub