The water bodies of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

were formed over a long geological timeframe and changed significantly throughout that period. This is particularly evidenced by remnants of ancient rivers found throughout the country. The country's water systems are continually changing under the influence of natural forces and human-introduced industrial activities. Artificial rivers (

canals Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow u ...

) and

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s are a part of Azerbaijan's water systems. 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 primary ...

of Azerbaijan basically belongs to the

Caspian Sea basin The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the 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, west of the broad ste ...

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 wholly or partially through the country are: * Kür, main water source and the artery of the country * Araz * Qanıx, located in Alazan * Qabırlı, also known as Iori *

Khrami The Khrami ( ka, ხრამი, ), in its upper course ''Ktsia'', is a river in eastern Georgia and western Azerbaijan, and a right tributary of the Kura (''Mtkvari''). It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Samur SAMUR (''Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate'') is a specialized emergency system of Madrid, Spain. It is composed of the central base, 17 operative bases and 190 vehicles. History The starting point and deployment of the or ...

* Pirsaatçay * Bolgar-Chay, located in Jalilabad District *

Ağstafa Agstafa () 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, and made into an independent district agai ...

* Hekeriychay, also known as Hekeri * Kurekchay * Tərtərçay ** Ağdabançay ** Levçay ** Turağayçay * Türyançay * Vilesh * 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 Araz 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 rivers that directly flow into the Caspian Sea, originate mainly from the north-eastern slope of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains. It stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of t ...

and

Talysh Mountains Talysh Mountains (, , ) is a mountain range in far southeastern Azerbaijan and far northwestern Iran within Ardabil Province and Gilan Province. Geography The Talysh Mountains extend southeastward from the Lankaran Lowland in southeastern Azer ...

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.

Lakes

* Ağgöl * Ajinohur * Alagöl * Boyukshor * Göygöl * Hajikabul * Jandari * Maral-gol * Masazirgol * Sarysu, the largest lake by area and volume

Reservoirs

Over 60 water reservoirs have been constructed in order to regulate the river flow in Azerbaijan. The formation of these reservoirs is one of the measures that has been undertaken in order to ration the utilization of water and energy resources. The largest water reservoirs are: * Agstafachay * Araz * Jeyranbatan * Khanbulanchay * Khudaferin *

Mingachevir Mingachevir ( ) is the fourth largest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 106,000. It is often called the "city of lights" because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kura (South Caucasus river), Kura River, which divides the city ...

, the largest reservoir by area * Sarsang *

Shamkir Shamkir may refer to: * Shamkir (city), a city in Azerbaijan *Shamkir District Shamkir District () is one of the 66 Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan, districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north-west of the country and belongs to t ...

* Varvara * Vileshchay * Yenikend The reservoirs in Azerbaijan are designed to be utilized for various purposes, while most other ponds are used exclusively for irrigation.

References

External links

Scientific-Research Institute for Hydrometeorology
{{List of rivers of Europe

Bodies Of Water A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more ra ...