The Tanjaro (), also spelled Tanjero, is a river in the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. It arises near the city

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah or Slemani (; ), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is the capital of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Bara ...

through the confluence of the rivers ''Kiliasan'' and ''Kani-Ban'' and flows into the

Darbandikhan Dam The Darbandikhan Dam () is a multi-purpose embankment dam on the Diyala River in northern Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. It was constructed between 1956 and 1961. The purpose of the dam is irrigation, flood control, hydroelectric power producti ...

reservoir after 58 kilometers.

Neolithic site of Bestansur

Bestansur Bestansur is a Neolithic tell, or archaeological settlement mound, located in Sulaimaniyah province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq in the western Zagros foothills. The site is located on the edge of the Shahrizor Plain, 30 km to the south-east of ...

is an archaeological site on the left bank of the river occupied during the

Neolithic period The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

. A sherd dated to 6500-6200 cal BC with an imprint of a possible fishing net has been found there, indicating the exploitation of riverine resources.

Pollution

Due to the discharge of untreated wastewater and

industrial wastewater Industrial wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment, the treated industrial wastewater (or effluent) may be reused or released to a s ...

, as well as wild garbage dumps in the bank area, the river is heavily polluted by heavy metals and other pollutants. Agriculture also suffers from

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

because the water is no longer suitable for irrigating the fields. In the Darbandichan reservoir, pollution from the Tanjero periodically leads to

fish kill The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized mass mortality event, mass die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (200 ...

in Summer.

References

Rivers of Iraq Tributaries of the Tigris River {{Iraq-river-stub