Delaware River rises in southern New York and flows southward for about 300 miles (480 kilometers) before emptying into Delaware Bay. It passes through the Delaware Water Gap near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania (see Delaware Water Gap ). The Delaware forms the boundary between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and New Jersey and Delaware. It forms part of the boundary between New York and Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers are its main tributaries.
The Delaware serves as a water transportation route for Philadelphia; Trenton and Camden, New Jersey; and Wilmington, Delaware, all of which lie in one of the great industrial areas of the United States. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal connects the river with Chesapeake Bay. In 1961, the Delaware Basin Compact created a regional administrative agency to develop and control the water resources of the Delaware River Basin.
