The Inde is a small river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, left tributary of the Rur

Rur

The Rur , — not to be confused with the Ruhr — is a river which flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right tributary to the river Meuse...

. It has its source near Raeren

Raeren

Raeren is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. It was part of Germany until the First World War, after which it became part of Belgium. It is one of several towns in Eastern Belgium which still predominantly speak German....

 in Eastern Belgium, runs through Aachen-Kornelimünster

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

, Eschweiler

Eschweiler

Eschweiler is a municipality in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Belgian-Dutch frontier, and about 15 km east of Aachen and 50 km west of Cologne.- History :...

 and Inden

Inden

Inden is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Inde, approx. 10 km north-west of Düren. In the area around Inden lignite is extracted in open-pit mines. Several hundreds of inhabitants have been resettled in the 1990s and...

, and flows into the river Rur

Rur

The Rur , — not to be confused with the Ruhr — is a river which flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right tributary to the river Meuse...

 near Jülich

Jülich

Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...

. Because of lignite

Lignite

Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...

 opencast mining, it has been diverted in 2003 near to Inden-Lamersdorf.

The brooks Omerbach, Otterbach, Saubach, Vichtbach and Wehebach flow into the Inde.

Its name is of Celtic origin: Inda. The Inde has a counterpart, a "small Inde", in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

: the Andelle

Andelle

The Andelle is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure.- Geography :The Andelle has its source in the Pays de Bray in the territory of the commune of Serqueux...

, which is a 55 km long river in the French département Seine-Maritime and whose original name was Indella. The suffix -ella is an example for Celtic river names comparing for instance Mosella (= Moselle

Moselle

Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

, i.e. "small Mosa (= Maas

Maas

Maas is the name, in English borrowed from the Dutch language, of a river that is also named Meuse , in English borrowed from French language. The practical use in English may be influenced by the context at a lower or upper stream location....

)"). For the name "Inde", the Indoeuropean stem *wed (= water) is supposed, like in words like Italian "onda" and French "onde" (= wave).

The river Inde acquired historical importance, when Emperor Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

founded the monastery of Kornelimünster at one of its old passages in 815.