The Ghezel Ozan ( (Red River), / ''Qezel Owzan'') (also spelled Ghezel Ozen) is one of the longest rivers in Iran, originating from the Chehel Cheshmeh Mountains between Saqqez and Divandarreh in Kurdistan Province flowing in northern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It flows through Kurdistan Province,

Zanjan Province Zanjan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Zanjan. It is a mountainous province with close to 22,000 km2 of land placed in Iran's Region 3. Two-thirds of the people of the province live in the cit ...

East Azerbaijan Province East Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tabriz. The province is located in Azerbaijan (Iran), Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Ardabil pro ...

, Ardabil Province, and

Gilan Province Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Regions of Iran, Region 3, west of ...

. It is one of two tributaries forming the Sefid-Rud river, with the Shahrood. The Sefīd-Rūd is a major river and tributary of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. Its catchment area is about .

Course

The Ghezel Ozan

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

are in the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

, in a region near Divan Darreh in Kurdistan Province. It runs northeastwards through Miyaneh County in East Azarbaijan and then Khalkhal County in Ardabil Province and then

Zanjan County Zanjan County () is in Zanjan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Zanjan. History The village of Armaghankhaneh was elevated to the status of a city in 2009, and the village of Nik Pey became a city in 2011. Soharin Rural Distri ...

and

Tarom County Tarom County () is in Zanjan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Ab Bar. History The region of Tarom is historically divided into two parts: Upper Tarom and Lower Tarom. Medieval Arabic geographers usually wrote the name as ''a� ...

eastwards through the Alborz mountain range in

. At Rudbar in the southwestern Alborz, the Ghezel Ozan joins the Shah Rud−Shahrood river to form the

Sefīd-Rūd The Sepid-Rud (, ) (also known as Sefid-Rud) is a river, approximately long, rising in the Alborz mountain range of northwestern Iran and flowing generally northeast to empty into the Caspian Sea at Rasht. Names Other names and transcription ...

river (meaning White River in Persian). Then the Sefid-Rud flows northwards in Gilan Province, through the Alborz range to the

Nomenclature

Sometimes the Ghezel Ozan and the Sefīd-Rūd are considered a single river, and the words "Ghezel Ozan" and "Sefid-Rud" are used synonymously for the entire river that flows from the Zagros Mountains in Kordestan Province to the Caspian Sea.Microsoft Encarta World Atlas 2001, Microsoft Corporation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qizil Uzan Rivers of Kurdistan Province Rivers of East Azerbaijan province Landforms of Ardabil province Landforms of East Azerbaijan province Landforms of Gilan province Landforms of Zanjan province Alborz (mountain range) Tributaries of the Sefīd-Rūd Saqqez County

Course

Nomenclature

See also

References