The Rhine (German: Rhein [ʁaɪ̯n], French: Rhin, Dutch: Rijn, Walloon: Rén, Limburgish and Sursilvan: Rein, Sutsilvan and Surmiran: Ragn, Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: Rain, Italian: Reno, Alemannic German: Rhi(n) including Alsatian/Low Alemannic German, Ripuarian, Low Franconian: Rhing, Latin: Rhenus [ˈr̥eːnʊs]) is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German and then the Franco-German border, then flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland and the Netherlands and eventually empties into the North Sea.