Editing Scheldt (section)

==Course==
The headwaters of the Scheldt are in [[Gouy, Aisne|Gouy]], in the [[Aisne]] department of northern France. It flows north through [[Cambrai]] and [[Valenciennes]], and enters Belgium near [[Tournai]]. [[Ghent]] developed at the confluence of the [[Lys (river)|Lys]], one of its main tributaries, and the Scheldt, which then turns east. Near [[Antwerp]], the largest city on its banks, the Scheldt flows west into the Netherlands toward the [[North Sea]].{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Originally there were two branches from that point: the [[Oosterschelde]] (Eastern Scheldt); and the [[Westerschelde]] (Western Scheldt). In the 19th century, however, the Dutch built a [[levee|dyke]] that cuts the river off from its eastern (northern) branch and connects [[Zuid-Beveland]] with the mainland ([[North Brabant]]).  Today the river continues into the Westerschelde [[estuary]] only, passing [[Terneuzen]] to reach the North Sea between [[Breskens]] in [[Zeelandic Flanders]] and [[Vlissingen]] (Flushing) on [[Walcheren]].{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

The Scheldt is an important [[waterway]], and has been made navigable from its mouth up to Cambrai. Above Cambrai, the [[Canal de Saint-Quentin]] follows its course. The [[port of Antwerp]], the second-largest in Europe, developed on its banks. Several [[canal]]s (including the [[Scheldt-Rhine Canal]] connecting [[Antwerp]] to [[Rotterdam]], the [[Albert Canal]] connecting it to [[Liège]] and the [[Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal|Brussel-Scheldt]], [[Brussels Canal|Brussels]] and [[Brussels–Charleroi Canal|Brussels-Charleroi]] canals connecting it to [[Charleroi]] via [[Brussels]]) connect the Scheldt with the basins of the [[Rhine]], [[Meuse (river)|Meuse]], and [[Seine]] rivers, and with the industrial areas around [[Brussels]], [[Liège]], [[Lille]], [[Dunkirk]], and [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]].{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

The Scheldt flows through the following [[departments of France]], [[provinces of Belgium]], [[provinces of the Netherlands]], and towns:{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

* [[Aisne]] (F): [[Gouy, Aisne|Gouy]]
* [[Nord (département)|Nord]] (F): [[Cambrai]], [[Denain]], [[Valenciennes]]
* [[Hainaut (province)|Hainaut]] (B): [[Tournai]]
* [[West Flanders]] (B): [[Avelgem]]
* [[East Flanders]] (B): [[Oudenaarde]], [[Ghent]], [[Dendermonde]], [[Temse]]
* [[Antwerp (province)|Antwerp]] (B): [[Antwerp]]
* [[Zeeland]] (NL): [[Hulst]], [[Terneuzen]], [[Sluis]], [[Vlissingen]]