Aras (river)

The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, finally, through Azerbaijan where it flows into the Kura river. It drains the south side of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains while the Kura drains the north side of the Lesser Caucasus. The river's total length is and its watershed covers an area of . The Aras is one of the longest rivers in the Caucasus. In classical antiquity, the river was known to the Greeks as Araxes (Ἀράξης). Its modern Armenian name is Arax or Araks (Արաքս). Historically it was also known as Yeraskh (Երասխ) and its Old Georgian name is Rakhsi (რახსი). In Azerbaijani, the river's name is Araz. In Persian and Kurdish its name is ارس (Aras), and in Turkish it is Aras. The Aras rises near Erzurum in Turkey and meets with the Akhuryan River southeast of Digor. From Digor it flows along the Armenia–Turkey border and then runs close to the corridor that connects Turkey to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave. It then continues along the Iranian-Armenian and the Iranian-Azerbaijan border. The Aras River is fed by several major tributaries, including the Arpa Çayı (also known as Akhuryan), which gathers the waters from the Kars River and Lake Çıldır located in Turkey, the Hrazdan River, which empties into Lake Sevan in Armenia, and the Qareh Sū, originating from the Sabalān Mountains in northeastern Iranian Azerbaijan. The following rivers are tributaries of the Aras, from source to mouth: Akhuryan (left) Metsamor (left) Hrazdan (left) Azat (left) Vedi (left) Arpa (left) Zangmar (right) Naxçıvançay (left) Qatur (right) Hajilarchay (right) Meghri (left) Bəsitçay (left) Voghji (left) Kaleybarchay (right) Hakari (left) Qarasu/Dareh-Rud (right) Köndələnçay (left) In Armenian tradition, the river is named after Arast, a great-grandson of the legendary Armenian patriarch Haik.