This is a list of

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. The

hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...

of Azerbaijan basically belongs to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

to which all

s in Azerbaijan flow to. The Caspian Sea is an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

, which is a closed drainage basin, because the Caspian Sea has no outflows to an

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

. The longest river of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the Kur whose

river source The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition ...

is in

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

and which flows through the

Republic of Georgia A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, before it enters Azerbaijan. There it unites with the second longest river Aras whose river source is also in

, and which is on the country's border with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The major

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of the Kur river are the Qanix,

Qabirri The Iori ( ka, იორი, az, Qabırrı) is a river in the South Caucasus that originates in the Greater Caucasus Mountains in eastern Georgia and continues into Azerbaijan, where it is also known as Gabirry (Qabirry) and flows into the Mingach ...

Turyan The Turyan ( az, Türyan), also called Turyanchay ( az, Türyançay) is a river of Azerbaijan. It flows through Qabala and Goychay raions. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Overview Turyanchay starts off at Ragdan peak which is locate ...

Agstafa Agstafa ( az, Ağstafa) is a town, municipality (assigned in 1941) and the capital of the Aghstafa District of Azerbaijan. Agstafa district was established in 1939, abolished in 1959 and merged with Gazakh district, became an independent distri ...

, Shekir, Terter and Khachin rivers. The major tributaries of the Aras river are the Arpachay, Nakhchivan, Okhchu, Hekeri and Kondelenchay rivers. The largest rivers which are not tributaries of the Kur and Aras rivers are the Samur, Gudyal, Velvele,

Vilesh The Vileshchay ( az, Viləşçay, tly, Viləşərü, script=Latn) is a river of Azerbaijan. It is one of the larger rivers of the country, flowing into the Caspian Sea in southeastern Azerbaijan. Overview Vilesh is a part of Gizil-Agach State Re ...

and Lenkeran rivers.

Rivers

Rivers form the principal part of the water systems of Azerbaijan. There are 8,359 rivers of various lengths within Azerbaijan. Of them 8,188 rivers are less than long. Only 24 rivers are over long. The largest rivers that flow through the country are: * Kür, main water source and the artery of the country * Aras * Qanıx, located in Alazan * Qabırlı, also known as Iori *

Khrami , name_etymology = , image = Khrami River Kirach Muganlo.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Khrami near Kirach Muganlo, Georgia , map = KhramiRiver800px.svg , map_size = , map_ ...

* Samur * Pirsaatçay *

Bolgar-Chay The Bolgarchay (Bolqar çay in Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani, بالهارود Bālhārūd in Persian language, Persian), is a river, forming part of the Azerbaijan–Iran border. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Jalilabad District * Ağstafa * Həkəriçay *

Kurekchay Kurekchay ( az, Kürəkçay) is one of the tributaries of the Kura River located in northwestern part of Azerbaijan. On 14 May 1805, on the bank of the river (not far from Ganja), the signing of the Kurekchay Treaty took place, which transferred ...

* Tərtərçay **

Ağdabançay Ağdabançay is one of the tributaries of the Tartarchay located in Karabakh region of Republic of Azerbaijan. Overview Ağdabançay is the left tributary of Tartarchay, a long river flowing from an altitude of in central Kalbajar District into ...

Levçay The Levçay is one of the tributaries of the Tartarchay in western Azerbaijan. Overview Levçay is a left tributary of Tartarchay, a long river flowing from mountains in central Kalbajar District into Tartarchay. The latter proceeds west through ...

** Turağayçay * Türyançay *

* Qarqarçay

River system

The rivers in Azerbaijan can be divided into three groups: #The Kur basin rivers (Qanix, Qabirri, Turyan, Agstafa, Shekir, Terter, Khachin, etc.) #The Aras basin rivers (Arpachay, Nakhchivan, Okhchu, Hekeri, Kondelenchay, etc.) #Rivers, flowing directly into the Caspian Sea (Samur, Gudyal, Velvele, Vilesh, Lenkeran, etc.) Azerbaijan river systems are changing and evolving under the influence of various physiographic factors: climate, landscape, geological structure, soil and vegetation. The density of the river network increases, then gradually decreases later with higher altitudes. Except for the Talysh region (1.6-2.2 km/km²), the river system density is the highest (1–2 km/km²) at 1,000-2,500 kilometers, while in the area of the Talysh mountains it peaks at 1.6-2.2 km/km² at 500-1,000 km. The average density of the river system of Azerbaijan is 0.39 km/km². The density is even lower than 0.05 km/km² in the plains.

Kura and Aras

The Kur and Aras are the longest rivers in Azerbaijan. They run through the

Kur-Araz Lowland The Kura-Aras Lowland, Kura-Aras Depression or Kura-Aras Basin ( az, Kür-Araz ovalığı) is a vast depression in central-southern Azerbaijan defined by the valleys of the Kura River and Aras River. It is situated by the West shore of the Casp ...

. The rivers that directly flow into the Caspian Sea, originate mainly from the north-eastern slope of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

and

Talysh Mountains Talysh Mountains ( tly, Tolışə Bandon, script=Latn, fa, کوه‌های تالش, Kuhhâye Tâleš; az, Talış dağları) is a mountain range in far southeastern Azerbaijan and far northwestern Iran within Ardabil Province and Gilan Provin ...

and run along the Samur-Devechi and Lenkeran lowlands. The Kura River basin area (86,000 km²) up to the junction with the Aras River is smaller than the Aras water basin (101,937 km²). The river is still called Kura on the junction because the water level of the Kura is twice as high as that of the Aras River.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers of Azerbaijan, List of

Rivers