This publication discusses the geography of and land use in a specific region of the Netherlands, the region of the great rivers of the Rhine, the Waal, and the Meuse. It is one of a series of publications developed by the Information and Documentation Center for the Geography of the Netherlands (IDG), a nonprofit organization whose aim is to supply information and documentation about the geography of the Netherlands to institutions and bodies outside the Netherlands concerned with education, study, and information, in the widest sense, about that country. There are four major sections. The first section provides a history of and describes the region of the great rivers. This area is generally defined as that part of the Netherlands which is bounded roughly by the towns of Rotterdam and Dordrecht in the west and Arnhem and Nymegen in the east. Discussed are the origin of the landscape, the water quality, land consolidation, rural planning, communications, and national physical planning. A brief discussion of an excursion route is also included. Statistical data on land use and environment, the population, the economy, agricultural holdings, industry, and foreign trade are provided in the second section. The third section contains brief notes on traffic, civil engineering works, and physical planning. The concluding section describes the aims and activities of the IDG. The appendix contains a bibliography and a sheet index to topographical maps. (RM)