A water divide, also known as a drainage divide, is an elevated area or highland that separates two drainage basins into two halves. It is a topographically high area that separates a landscape into different water basins. Rain that falls on one side of a divide flows into one drainage basin, while rain that falls on the other side flows into a different drainage basin. Water divides can be mountains, hills, plateaus, or any other land area that is higher than the land in its surrounding. They are also known by various names such as watersheds, ridgeline, water parting, and land elevations. On rugged lands, the splits are along the ridges of the terrain and can take the form of a single chain of hills or mountains known as dividing range or split chains. Separations can be difficult to see on flat terrain, especially if the ground is wetlands.
There are two types of water divides:
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Major Water Divide: The major divide is one in which the water on either side never meets, but instead converges on the same sea. An example of a major water divide is the divide between the Yellow River basin and the Yangtze.
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Minor Water Divide: Minor divides are where the water eventually flows into the confluence of rivers on both sides.
An example of a water divide is Ambala, which is located on the water divide between the Indus and the Ganga River.
