A continental divide is a topographic feature separating streams that flow towards opposite sides of a continent. It is a continental scale version of the topographic divides that separate drainage basins of all scales.

In the conterminous United States and Canada, the continental divide follows an irregular course from the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces of New Mexico north through the Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone region, and the Canadian Rockies. Water in streams to the west of the continental divide flows toward the Pacific Ocean, whereas that to the east of the continental divide flows toward the Atlantic Ocean. In Alaska, however, the continental divide marks the boundary between rivers flowing north and west to the Arctic Ocean and those flowing south and west into the Bering Sea.

Continental divides are often associated with mountainous terrain. Elevations along the continental divide through the...