The Afrin River ( ar, نهر عفرين ''Nahr ʻIfrīn''; ( ku, Çemê Efrînê; northern Syrian vernacular: ''Nahər ʻAfrīn''; tr, Afrin Çayı) is a tributary of the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Asi ( ar, العاصي, , ; tr, Asi) is a river with a length of in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Turkey. ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. It rises in the Kartal Mountains in

Gaziantep Province Gaziantep Province ( tr, ) is a province in south-central Turkey. It is located in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region. Its capital is the city of Gaziantep. It neighbours Ad ...

, Turkey, flows south through the city of Afrin in Syria, then reenters Turkey. It joins the

Karasu Karasu, Kara-su, Kara su, Qarasu or Gharasu (lit. 'black water/river' in Turkic languages) may refer to: Rivers The Balkans * A former name of the Struma River (Struma Karasu) in Bulgaria and Thrace, northern Greece * A former name of the Mest ...

at the site of the former

Lake Amik Lake Amik or the Lake of Antioch ( ar, بحيرة العمق) ( tr, Amik Gölü) was a large freshwater lake in the basin of the Orontes River in Hatay Province, Turkey; it was located north-east of the ancient city of Antioch (modern Antakya). ...

, and its waters flow to the Orontes by a canal. The total length of the river is , of which is in Syria. About of the annual flow of the river comes from the

Hatay Province Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of A ...

of Turkey, while about originates in Syria. The river is impounded by the

Afrin Dam The Afrin Dam ( ar, سد عفرين), officially 17 April Dam ( ar, سد 17 نيسان), also called Maydanki Dam ( ar, سد ميدانكي), is an earth-filled water storage and hydroelectric power dam on the Afrin River in northwest Syria. It p ...

to the north of the city of Afrin. The Afrin was known as ''Apre'' to the Assyrians, ''Oinoparas'' in the

Seleucid era The Seleucid era ("SE") or (literally "year of the Greeks" or "Greek year"), sometimes denoted "AG," was a system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire and other countries among the ancient Hellenistic civilizations. It is sometimes r ...

, and as ''Ufrenus'' in the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

Abu'l-Fida Ismāʿīl b. ʿAlī b. Maḥmūd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Shāhanshāh b. Ayyūb b. Shādī b. Marwān ( ar, إسماعيل بن علي بن محمود بن محمد بن عمر بن شاهنشاه بن أيوب بن شادي بن مروان ...

mentions it as ''Nahr Ifrîn''.Guy Le Strange, ''Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A. D. 650 To 1500'' (1890)
p. 60

External links

References

Rivers of Turkey Rivers of Syria Aleppo Governorate Landforms of Gaziantep Province Orontes basin {{Turkey-river-stub