Aras

The Aras is the Longest River in Armenia and one of the longest in the Caucasus. The river has a total length of 1,072 kilometers and a basin area of 102,000 square kilometers. The Aras River begins in Turkey and travels through the Armenia-Turkey border, the Turkey-Azerbaijan border, Iran's borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan, and then through Azerbaijan to the Kura River. The Aras River drains the southern Lesser Caucasus Mountains, and its main branches include the Meghri, Voghji, Kasagh, Akhurian, Vorotan, Arpa, Azat, and Hrazdan rivers.

The Aras River begins near Erzurum, Turkey, and joins the Akhuryan River southeast of Digor. It flows from Digor along the Armenia–Turkey border and then near the corridor connecting Turkey to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave. It then follows the Iranian-Armenian and Iranian-Azerbaijan borders.

The river is named for Arast, a great-grandson of the mythical Armenian patriarch Haik, according to Armenian folklore. The name was then Hellenized to Araxes and used for the Kura-Araxes civilization, an ancient people who thrived in the Kura and Aras valleys. The river is also referenced as "mad at the bridge" in the last chapter of Virgil's Aeneid VIII since the Romans built a bridge over it and thereby subjugated it. The biblical rivers Gihon and Pishon have been linked to the Aras. Aras was defined by Robert H. Hewsen as Armenia's only "real river" and as "Mother Araxes," a source of pride for the Armenian people.

Length: 1,072 km