Rivers in Turkey

Firat (Euphrates)

Firat is the largest river in Turkey. it rises in the high lands of Anatolia and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq, map Turkey. Euphrates descends between major ranges of the Taurus Mountains to the Syrian plateau. It then flows through western and central Iraq to unite with the Tigris and continues, as Shatt al-Arab, to the Persian Gulf. In all, it is 1,740 mi (2,800 km) long. Its valley was heavily irrigated in ancient times, and many great cities, some of whose ruins remain, lined its banks. With the Tigris, it defines an area known historically as Mesopotamia.

Firat begins in Turkey, 1700 miles/2700 kilometers long and empties into the Persian Gulf.

94% of water originates in Turkish highlands

The Murat Karasuyu and several other Turkish rivers join the Euphrates in central Turkey

The Khabur joins the Euphrates in eastern Syria

The Euphrates and Tigris run parallel to eachother

The land between the Euphrates and the Tigris is known as Mesopotamia, which means "between the rivers" in Greek

The Euphrates and Tigris rivers get to be more that 100 mi. apart and join in southeastern Iraq to form the Shatt al Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf

The Euphrates has an annual flow of 990 billion cubic feet.

Dicle (Tigris)

It originates in the Taurus Mountains at Lake Hazar and flows 1,180 mi (1,900 km) southeast through Turkey and past Baghdad to unite with the Euphrates River at Al-Qurnah in southeastern Iraq; there it forms the Shatt al-Arab. With the Euphrates it defined the ancient region of Mesopotamia. Important for its irrigation capacity, it gave rise to sustained civilization. The ruins of many ancient cities lie on its banks, including those of Nineveh, Calah, Ashur, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia

Sakarya River( Sangarius )

The Sakarya River runs through what in ancient times was known as Phrygia, and is now a part of Turkey. The source of the river is the Bayat Yaylasy (Bayat Plateau).

Küçük Menderes(Cayster River)

Küçük Menderes is located south of Yzmir, Turkey. The Cayster generally flows westward and arrive into the Aegean Sea at Pamucak beach near Selçuk, Yzmir. The ancient city of Ephesus was once an important port on the Cayster.

Karamenderes River( Scamander)

Karamenderes is the modern name of the river Scamander, along the lower course of which, according to the Iliad, the battles of the Trojan War were fought.

Asi (Payas River):

The Payas River , in southern Anatolia near today s Turkey—Syria border, is thought during recent modern times to be the famous Pinarus river of antiquity, where Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in the First Battle of Issus, a ...

Kizilirmak (Halys River-Hyllus river)

Hyllus was the ancient name of a river of Asia Minor, a tributary of the river Hermus, in Lydia, flowing into Hermus from the north. (Homer Iliad xx. 392; Herodotus i. 80; Pliny v. 31.)

Meander (Maeander)

Meander (Büyük Menderes) runs through southwestern Turkey. It empties into the Aegean Sea after a course of 363 mi (584 km). Its Classical name, Maeander that is derived from the winding course of its lower reaches. The second (Küçük Menderes) was known in antiquity

Turkey also has two inland drainage basins. The first is the Central Anatolia basin which contains the Tuz Gölü (salt lake) in Konya and its satellite lakes.

The second is Karasu, Incesu, Deliçay and Bendimahi rivers flow into the interior drainage basin of Van. There are waterfalls on the Bendimahi River.