Euphrates

The largest river in Southwest Asia, the Euphrates River rises in the highlands of Turkey and flows southeast almost parallel with the Tigris across Syria and through Iraq. The two rivers never flow more than 160 km (100 mi) apart. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers join in southeastern Iraq near Al Qurnah and empty into the Persian Gulf. With the Tigris, Euphrates defines an area known historically as Mesopotamia.

In this fertile land between these two rivers the first civilizations of the Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians aroused. Euphrates itself is 2 700km long and although less than 30% of the river’s basin is situated within Turkey’s borders, roughly 94% of the river’s water originates in the Turkish highlands.