PARUSHNI
/ EUPHRATES - 2
![](bf.jpg)
The
Euphrates near Urfa (Turkey)
![](Tigr-euph.png)
Map
of the combined Tigris–Euphrates drainage basin (in yellow)
Etymology
:
From Greek, from Old Persian Ufratu, from Elamite ú-ip-ra-tu-iš
Location
Country
:
Turkey, Iraq, Syria
Basin
area :
Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran
Cities
:
Birecik, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Mayadin, Haditha, Ramadi, Habbaniyah,
Fallujah, Kufa, Samawah, Nasiriyah
Physical
characteristics
Source
•
location :
Murat
Su, Turkey •
elevation :
3,520 m (11,550 ft)
2nd
source
•
location :
Kara Su, Turkey
•
elevation :
3,290 m (10,790 ft)
Source
confluence
•
location :
Keban, Turkey
•
elevation :
610 m (2,000 ft)
Mouth
:
Shatt al-Arab
•
location :
Al-Qurnah, Basra Governorate, Iraq
•
coordinates :
31°0'18 N 47°26'31 E
Length
:
Approx. 2,800 km (1,700 mi)
Basin
size :
Approx.
500,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi)
Discharge
•
location :
Hit
•
average :
356 m3/s (12,600 cu ft/s)
•
minimum :
58 m3/s (2,000 cu ft/s)
•
maximum :
2,514
m3/s (88,800 cu ft/s)
Basin
features River
system :
Tigris–Euphrates river system
Tributaries
•
left :
Balikh, Khabur
•
right :
Sajur
The
Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important
rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the
two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (the "Land Between the Rivers").
Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq
to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the
Persian Gulf.
Etymology
:
The Ancient Greek form Euphrátes (as if from Greek eu "good"
and "I announce or declare") was adapted from Old Persian
Ufratu, itself from Elamite ú-ip-ra-tu-iš. The Elamite
name is ultimately derived from a name, which read as Sumerian is
"Buranuna" and read as Akkadian is "Purattu";
many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian
pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word and an Akkadian word that
mean the same. In Akkadian the river was called Purattu, which has
been perpetuated in Semitic languages ( romanized: al-Furat; Syriac:
Perat) and in other nearby languages of the time (cf. Hurrian Puranti,
Sabarian Uruttu). The Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms
are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language. Tamaz
V. Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav Ivanov suggest the Proto-Sumerian
*burudu "copper" (Sumerian urudu) as an origin, with an
explanation that Euphrates was the river by which copper ore was
transported in rafts, since Mesopotamia was the center of copper
metallurgy during the period. The name is Yeprat in Armenian, Perat
in Hebrew, Firat in Turkish and Firat in Kurdish.
The
earliest references to the Euphrates come from cuneiform texts found
in Shuruppak and pre-Sargonic Nippur in southern Iraq and date to
the mid-3rd millennium BCE. In these texts, written in Sumerian,
the Euphrates is called Buranuna (logographic: UD.KIB.NUN). The
name could also be written KIB.NUN.(NA) or dKIB.NUN, with the prefix
"d" indicating that the river was a divinity. In Sumerian,
the name of the city of Sippar in modern-day Iraq was also written
UD.KIB.NUN, indicating a historically strong relationship between
the city and the river.
Course
:
The Euphrates is the longest river of Western Asia. It emerges from
the confluence of the Kara Su or Western Euphrates (450 kilometres
(280 mi)) and the Murat Su or Eastern Euphrates (650 kilometres
(400 mi)) 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) upstream from the town of Keban
in southeastern Turkey. Daoudy and Frenken put the length of the
Euphrates from the source of the Murat River to the confluence with
the Tigris at 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi), of which 1,230 kilometres
(760 mi) is in Turkey, 710 kilometres (440 mi) in Syria and 1,060
kilometres (660 mi) in Iraq. The same figures are given by Isaev
and Mikhailova. The length of the Shatt al-Arab, which connects
the Euphrates and the Tigris with the Persian Gulf, is given by
various sources as 145–195 kilometres (90–121 mi).
Both
the Kara Su and the Murat Su rise northwest from Lake Van at elevations
of 3,290 metres (10,790 ft) and 3,520 metres (11,550 ft) amsl, respectively.
At the location of the Keban Dam, the two rivers, now combined into
the Euphrates, have dropped to an elevation of 693 metres (2,274
ft) amsl. From Keban to the Syrian–Turkish border, the river
drops another 368 metres (1,207 ft) over a distance of less than
600 kilometres (370 mi). Once the Euphrates enters the Upper Mesopotamian
plains, its grade drops significantly; within Syria the river falls
163 metres (535 ft) while over the last stretch between Hit and
the Shatt al-Arab the river drops only 55 metres (180 ft).
Discharge
:
The Euphrates receives most of its water in the form of rainfall
and melting snow, resulting in peak volumes during the months April
through May. Discharge in these two months accounts for 36 percent
of the total annual discharge of the Euphrates, or even 60–70
percent according to one source, while low runoff occurs in summer
and autumn. The average natural annual flow of the Euphrates has
been determined from early- and mid-twentieth century records as
20.9 cubic kilometres (5.0 cu mi) at Keban, 36.6 cubic kilometres
(8.8 cu mi) at Hit and 21.5 cubic kilometres (5.2 cu mi) at Hindiya.
However, these averages mask the high inter-annual variability in
discharge; at Birecik, just north of the Syro–Turkish border,
annual discharges have been measured that ranged from a low volume
of 15.3 cubic kilometres (3.7 cu mi) in 1961 to a high of 42.7 cubic
kilometres (10.2 cu mi) in 1963.
The
discharge regime of the Euphrates has changed dramatically since
the construction of the first dams in the 1970s. Data on Euphrates
discharge collected after 1990 show the impact of the construction
of the numerous dams in the Euphrates and of the increased withdrawal
of water for irrigation. Average discharge at Hit after 1990 has
dropped to 356 cubic metres (12,600 cu ft) per second (11.2 cubic
kilometres (2.7 cu mi) per year). The seasonal variability has equally
changed. The pre-1990 peak volume recorded at Hit was 7,510 cubic
metres (265,000 cu ft) per second, while after 1990 it is only 2,514
cubic metres (88,800 cu ft) per second. The minimum volume at Hit
remained relatively unchanged, rising from 55 cubic metres (1,900
cu ft) per second before 1990 to 58 cubic metres (2,000 cu ft) per
second afterward.
Tributaries
:
![](640px-Murat_05.jpg)
View of the Murat River
In Syria, three rivers add their water to the Euphrates; the Sajur,
the Balikh and the Khabur. These rivers rise in the foothills of
the Taurus Mountains along the Syro–Turkish border and add
comparatively little water to the Euphrates. The Sajur is the smallest
of these tributaries; emerging from two streams near Gaziantep and
draining the plain around Manbij before emptying into the reservoir
of the Tishrin Dam. The Balikh receives most of its water from a
karstic spring near 'Ayn al-'Arus and flows due south until it reaches
the Euphrates at the city of Raqqa. In terms of length, drainage
basin and discharge, the Khabur is the largest of these three. Its
main karstic springs are located around Ra's al-'Ayn, from where
the Khabur flows southeast past Al-Hasakah, where the river turns
south and drains into the Euphrates near Busayrah. Once the Euphrates
enters Iraq, there are no more natural tributaries to the Euphrates,
although canals connecting the Euphrates basin with the Tigris basin
exist.
Ruler |
Particulars |
Kara
Su |
Length
: 450 km (280 mi)
Watershed
size : 22,000 km2 (8,500 sq mi)
Discharge
: ---
Bank
: Confluence |
Murat
River |
Length
: 650 km (400 mi)
Watershed
size : 40,000 km2 (15,000 sq mi)
Discharge
: ---
Bank
: Confluence |
Sajur
River |
Length
: 108 km (67 mi)
Watershed
size : 2,042 km2 (788 sq mi)
Discharge
: 4.1 m3/s (145 cu ft/s)
Bank
: Right |
Balikh
River |
Length
: 100 km (62 mi)
Watershed
size : 14,400 km2 (5,600 sq mi)
Discharge
: 6 m3/s (212 cu ft/s)
Bank
: Left |
Khabur
River |
Length
: 486 km (302 mi)
Watershed
size : 37,081 km2 (14,317 sq mi)
Discharge
: 45 m3/s (1,600 cu ft/s)
Bank
: Left |
|
Drainage
basin :
French map from the 17th century showing the Euphrates and
the Tigris
The drainage basins of the Kara Su and the Murat River cover an
area of 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi) and 40,000 square
kilometres (15,000 sq mi), respectively. Estimates of the area of
the Euphrates drainage basin vary widely; from a low 233,000 square
kilometres (90,000 sq mi) to a high 766,000 square kilometres (296,000
sq mi). Recent estimates put the basin area at 388,000 square kilometres
(150,000 sq mi), 444,000 square kilometres (171,000 sq mi) and 579,314
square kilometres (223,674 sq mi). The greater part of the Euphrates
basin is located in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. According to both Daoudy
and Frenken, Turkey's share is 28 percent, Syria's is 17 percent
and that of Iraq is 40 percent. Isaev and Mikhailova estimate the
percentages of the drainage basin lying within Turkey, Syria and
Iraq at 33, 20 and 47 percent respectively. Some sources estimate
that approximately 15 percent of the drainage basin is located within
Saudi Arabia, while a small part falls inside the borders of Kuwait.
Finally, some sources also include Jordan in the drainage basin
of the Euphrates; a small part of the eastern desert (220 square
kilometres (85 sq mi)) drains toward the east rather than to the
west.
Natural
history :
![](Rafetus_euphraticus.jpg)
Rafetus euphraticus
The Euphrates flows through a number of distinct vegetation zones.
Although millennia-long human occupation in most parts of the Euphrates
basin has significantly degraded the landscape, patches of original
vegetation remain. The steady drop in annual rainfall from the sources
of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf is a strong determinant
for the vegetation that can be supported. In its upper reaches the
Euphrates flows through the mountains of Southeast Turkey and their
southern foothills which support a xeric woodland. Plant species
in the moister parts of this zone include various oaks, pistachio
trees, and Rosaceae (rose/plum family). The drier parts of the xeric
woodland zone supports less dense oak forest and Rosaceae. Here
can also be found the wild variants of many cereals, including einkorn
wheat, emmer wheat, oat and rye. South of this zone lies a zone
of mixed woodland-steppe vegetation. Between Raqqa and the Syro–Iraqi
border the Euphrates flows through a steppe landscape. This steppe
is characterised by white wormwood (Artemisia herba-alba) and Chenopodiaceae.
Throughout history, this zone has been heavily overgrazed due to
the practicing of sheep and goat pastoralism by its inhabitants.
Southeast of the border between Syria and Iraq starts true desert.
This zone supports either no vegetation at all or small pockets
of Chenopodiaceae or Poa sinaica. Although today nothing of it survives
due to human interference, research suggests that the Euphrates
Valley would have supported a riverine forest. Species characteristic
of this type of forest include the Oriental plane, the Euphrates
poplar, the tamarisk, the ash and various wetland plants.
Among
the fish species in the Tigris–Euphrates basin, the family
of the Cyprinidae are the most common, with 34 species out of 52
in total. Among the Cyprinids, the mangar has good sport fishing
qualities, leading the British to nickname it "Tigris salmon."
The Rafetus euphraticus is an endangered soft-shelled turtle that
is limited to the Tigris–Euphrates river system.
The
Neo-Assyrian palace reliefs from the 1st millennium BCE depict lion
and bull hunts in fertile landscapes. Sixteenth to nineteenth century
European travellers in the Syrian Euphrates basin reported on an
abundance of animals living in the area, many of which have become
rare or even extinct. Species like gazelle, onager and the now-extinct
Arabian ostrich lived in the steppe bordering the Euphrates valley,
while the valley itself was home to the wild boar. Carnivorous species
include the gray wolf, the golden jackal, the red fox, the leopard
and the lion. The Syrian brown bear can be found in the mountains
of Southeast Turkey. The presence of European beaver has been attested
in the bone assemblage of the prehistoric site of Abu Hureyra in
Syria, but the beaver has never been sighted in historical times.
River
:
![](Bassin_Tigre_Euphrate.jpg)
Map (in French) showing the locations of dams and barrages built
in the Syro–Turkish part of the Euphrates basin
The Hindiya Barrage on the Iraqi Euphrates, based on plans by British
civil engineer William Willcocks and finished in 1913, was the first
modern water diversion structure built in the Tigris–Euphrates
river system. The Hindiya Barrage was followed in the 1950s by the
Ramadi Barrage and the nearby Abu Dibbis Regulator, which serve
to regulate the flow regime of the Euphrates and to discharge excess
flood water into the depression that is now Lake Habbaniyah. Iraq's
largest dam on the Euphrates is the Haditha Dam; a 9-kilometre-long
(5.6 mi) earth-fill dam creating Lake Qadisiyah. Syria and Turkey
built their first dams in the Euphrates in the 1970s. The Tabqa
Dam in Syria was completed in 1973 while Turkey finished the Keban
Dam, a prelude to the immense Southeastern Anatolia Project, in
1974. Since then, Syria has built two more dams in the Euphrates,
the Baath Dam and the Tishrin Dam, and plans to build a fourth dam
– the Halabiye Dam – between Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.
The Tabqa Dam is Syria's largest dam and its reservoir (Lake Assad)
is an important source of irrigation and drinking water. It was
planned that 640,000 hectares (2,500 sq mi) should be irrigated
from Lake Assad, but in 2000 only 100,000–124,000 hectares
(390–480 sq mi) had been realized. Syria also built three
smaller dams on the Khabur and its tributaries.
With
the implementation of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (Turkish:
Güneydogu Anadolu Projesi, or GAP) in the 1970s, Turkey launched
an ambitious plan to harness the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates
for irrigation and hydroelectricity production and provide an economic
stimulus to its southeastern provinces. GAP affects a total area
of 75,000 square kilometres (29,000 sq mi) and approximately 7 million
people; representing about 10 percent of Turkey's total surface
area and population, respectively. When completed, GAP will consist
of 22 dams – including the Keban Dam – and 19 power
plants and provide irrigation water to 1,700,000 hectares (6,600
sq mi) of agricultural land, which is about 20 percent of the irrigable
land in Turkey. C. 910,000 hectares (3,500 sq mi) of this irrigated
land is located in the Euphrates basin. By far the largest dam in
GAP is the Atatürk Dam, located c. 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest
of Sanliurfa. This 184-metre-high (604 ft) and 1,820-metre-long
(5,970 ft) dam was completed in 1992; thereby creating a reservoir
that is the third-largest lake in Turkey. With a maximum capacity
of 48.7 cubic kilometres (11.7 cu mi), the Atatürk Dam reservoir
is large enough to hold the entire annual discharge of the Euphrates.
Completion of GAP was scheduled for 2010 but has been delayed because
the World Bank has withheld funding due to the lack of an official
agreement on water sharing between Turkey and the downstream states
on the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Apart
from barrages and dams, Iraq has also created an intricate network
of canals connecting the Euphrates with Lake Habbaniyah, Lake Tharthar,
and Abu Dibbis reservoir; all of which can be used to store excess
floodwater. Via the Shatt al-Hayy, the Euphrates is connected with
the Tigris. The largest canal in this network is the Main Outfall
Drain or so-called "Third River;" constructed between
1953 and 1992. This 565-kilometre-long (351 mi) canal is intended
to drain the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris south of
Baghdad to prevent soil salinization from irrigation. It also allows
large freight barges to navigate up to Baghdad.
Environmental
and social effects :
![](640px-KebanDam.jpg)
Keban Dam in Turkey, the first dam on the Euphrates after
it emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su and the Murat Su
![](CaberKalesi.jpg)
Qal'at Ja'bar in Syria, once perched on a hilltop overlooking the
Euphrates valley but now turned into an island by the flooding of
Lake Assad
The construction of the dams and irrigation schemes on the Euphrates
has had a significant impact on the environment and society of each
riparian country. The dams constructed as part of GAP – in
both the Euphrates and the Tigris basins – have affected 382
villages and almost 200,000 people have been resettled elsewhere.
The largest number of people was displaced by the building of the
Atatürk Dam, which alone affected 55,300 people. A survey among
those who were displaced showed that the majority were unhappy with
their new situation and that the compensation they had received
was considered insufficient. The flooding of Lake Assad led to the
forced displacement of c. 4,000 families, who were resettled in
other parts of northern Syria as part of a now abandoned plan to
create an "Arab belt" along the borders with Turkey and
Iraq.
Apart
from the changes in the discharge regime of the river, the numerous
dams and irrigation projects have also had other effects on the
environment. The creation of reservoirs with large surfaces in countries
with high average temperatures has led to increased evaporation;
thereby reducing the total amount of water that is available for
human use. Annual evaporation from reservoirs has been estimated
at 2 cubic kilometres (0.48 cu mi) in Turkey, 1 cubic kilometre
(0.24 cu mi) in Syria and 5 cubic kilometres (1.2 cu mi) in Iraq.
Water quality in the Iraqi Euphrates is low because irrigation water
tapped in Turkey and Syria flows back into the river, together with
dissolved fertilizer chemicals used on the fields. The salinity
of Euphrates water in Iraq has increased as a result of upstream
dam construction, leading to lower suitability as drinking water.
The many dams and irrigation schemes, and the associated large-scale
water abstraction, have also had a detrimental effect on the ecologically
already fragile Mesopotamian Marshes and on freshwater fish habitats
in Iraq.
The
inundation of large parts of the Euphrates valley, especially in
Turkey and Syria, has led to the flooding of many archaeological
sites and other places of cultural significance. Although concerted
efforts have been made to record or save as much of the endangered
cultural heritage as possible, many sites are probably lost forever.
The combined GAP projects on the Turkish Euphrates have led to major
international efforts to document the archaeological and cultural
heritage of the endangered parts of the valley. Especially the flooding
of Zeugma with its unique Roman mosaics by the reservoir of the
Birecik Dam has generated much controversy in both the Turkish and
international press. The construction of the Tabqa Dam in Syria
led to a large international campaign coordinated by UNESCO to document
the heritage that would disappear under the waters of Lake Assad.
Archaeologists from numerous countries excavated sites ranging in
date from the Natufian to the Abbasid period, and two minarets were
dismantled and rebuilt outside the flood zone. Important sites that
have been flooded or affected by the rising waters of Lake Assad
include Mureybet, Emar and Abu Hureyra. A similar international
effort was made when the Tishrin Dam was constructed, which led,
among others, to the flooding of the important Pre-Pottery Neolithic
B site of Jerf el-Ahmar. An archaeological survey and rescue excavations
were also carried out in the area flooded by Lake Qadisiya in Iraq.
Parts of the flooded area have recently become accessible again
due to the drying up of the lake, resulting not only in new possibilities
for archaeologists to do more research, but also providing opportunities
for looting, which has been rampant elsewhere in Iraq in the wake
of the 2003 invasion.
History
:
![](20151228-Euphrates_9283.jpg)
A
fishing boat in the Euphrates Southern Iraq
Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic periods :
The early occupation of the Euphrates basin was limited to its upper
reaches; that is, the area that is popularly known as the Fertile
Crescent. Acheulean stone artifacts have been found in the Sajur
basin and in the El Kowm oasis in the central Syrian steppe; the
latter together with remains of Homo erectus that were dated to
450,000 years old. In the Taurus Mountains and the upper part of
the Syrian Euphrates valley, early permanent villages such as Abu
Hureyra – at first occupied by hunter-gatherers but later
by some of the earliest farmers, Jerf el-Ahmar, Mureybet and Nevali
Çori became established from the eleventh millennium BCE
onward. In the absence of irrigation, these early farming communities
were limited to areas where rainfed agriculture was possible, that
is, the upper parts of the Syrian Euphrates as well as Turkey. Late
Neolithic villages, characterized by the introduction of pottery
in the early 7th millennium BCE, are known throughout this area.
Occupation of lower Mesopotamia started in the 6th millennium and
is generally associated with the introduction of irrigation, as
rainfall in this area is insufficient for dry agriculture. Evidence
for irrigation has been found at several sites dating to this period,
including Tell es-Sawwan. During the 5th millennium BCE, or late
Ubaid period, northeastern Syria was dotted by small villages, although
some of them grew to a size of over 10 hectares (25 acres). In Iraq,
sites like Eridu and Ur were already occupied during the Ubaid period.
Clay boat models found at Tell Mashnaqa along the Khabur indicate
that riverine transport was already practiced during this period.
The Uruk period, roughly coinciding with the 4th millennium BCE,
saw the emergence of truly urban settlements across Mesopotamia.
Cities like Tell Brak and Uruk grew to over 100 hectares (250 acres)
in size and displayed monumental architecture. The spread of southern
Mesopotamian pottery, architecture and sealings far into Turkey
and Iran has generally been interpreted as the material reflection
of a widespread trade system aimed at providing the Mesopotamian
cities with raw materials. Habuba Kabira on the Syrian Euphrates
is a prominent example of a settlement that is interpreted as an
Uruk colony.
Ancient
history :
During the Jemdet Nasr (3600–3100 BCE) and Early Dynastic
periods (3100–2350 BCE), southern Mesopotamia experienced
a growth in the number and size of settlements, suggesting strong
population growth. These settlements, including Sumero-Akkadian
sites like Sippar, Uruk, Adab and Kish, were organized in competing
city-states. Many of these cities were located along canals of the
Euphrates and the Tigris that have since dried up, but that can
still be identified from remote sensing imagery. A similar development
took place in Upper Mesopotamia, Subartu and Assyria, although only
from the mid 3rd millennium and on a smaller scale than in Lower
Mesopotamia. Sites like Ebla, Mari and Tell Leilan grew to prominence
for the first time during this period.
Large
parts of the Euphrates basin were for the first time united under
a single ruler during the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) and
Ur III empires, which controlled – either directly or indirectly
through vassals – large parts of modern-day Iraq and northeastern
Syria. Following their collapse, the Old Assyrian Empire (1975–1750
BCE) and Mari asserted their power over northeast Syria and northern
Mesopotamia, while southern Mesopotamia was controlled by city-states
like Isin, Kish and Larsa before their territories were absorbed
by the newly emerged state of Babylonia under Hammurabi in the early
to mid 18th century BCE.
In
the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE, the Euphrates basin was
divided between Kassite Babylon in the south and Mitanni, Assyria
and the Hittite Empire in the north, with the Middle Assyrian Empire
(1365–1020 BC) eventually eclipsing the Hittites, Mitanni
and Kassite Babylonians. Following the end of the Middle Assyrian
Empire in the late 11th century BCE, struggles broke out between
Babylonia and Assyria over the control of the Iraqi Euphrates basin.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire (935–605 BC) eventually emerged victorious
out of this conflict and also succeeded in gaining control of the
northern Euphrates basin in the first half of the 1st millennium
BCE.
In
the centuries to come, control of the wider Euphrates basin shifted
from the Neo-Assyrian Empire (which collapsed between 612 and 599
BC) to the short lived Median Empire (612–546 BC) and equally
brief Neo-Babylonian Empire (612–539 BC) in the last years
of the 7th century BC, and eventually to the Achaemenid Empire (539–333
BC). The Achaemenid Empire was in turn overrun by Alexander the
Great, who defeated the last king Darius III and died in Babylon
in 323 BCE.
Subsequent
to this, the region came under the control of the Seleucid Empire
(312–150 BC), Parthian Empire (150–226 AD) (during which
several Neo-Assyrian states such as Adiabene came to rule certain
regions of the Euphrates), and was fought over by the Roman Empire,
its succeeding Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire (226–638
AD), until the Islamic conquest of the mid 7th century AD. The Battle
of Karbala took place near the banks of this river in 680 AD.
In
the north, the river served as a border between Greater Armenia
(331 BC–428 AD) and Lesser Armenia (the latter became a Roman
province in the 1st century BC).
Modern
era :
![](Baghdad_Railway_Euphrates_wooden_bridge.jpg)
Wooden bridge carrying the Baghdad Railway over the Euphrates,
ca. 1900–1910
After World War I, the borders in Southwest Asia were redrawn in
the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), when the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.
Clause 109 of the treaty stipulated that the three riparian states
of the Euphrates (at that time Turkey, France for its Syrian mandate
and the United Kingdom for its mandate of Iraq) had to reach a mutual
agreement on the use of its water and on the construction of any
hydraulic installation. An agreement between Turkey and Iraq signed
in 1946 required Turkey to report to Iraq on any hydraulic changes
it made on the Tigris–Euphrates river system, and allowed
Iraq to construct dams on Turkish territory to manage the flow of
the Euphrates.
![](Coat_of_arms_of_the_Kingdom_of_Iraq.svg.png)
Coat
of arms of the Kingdom of Iraq 1932–1959 depicting the two
rivers, the confluence Shatt al-Arab and the date palm forest, which
used to be the largest in the world
The river featured on the coat of arms of Iraq from 1932 to 1959.
![](Euphrates_River1.JPG)
Euphrates
near Kahta
Turkey and Syria completed their first dams on the Euphrates –
the Keban Dam and the Tabqa Dam, respectively – within one
year of each other and filling of the reservoirs commenced in 1975.
At the same time, the area was hit by severe drought and river flow
toward Iraq was reduced from 15.3 cubic kilometres (3.7 cu mi) in
1973 to 9.4 cubic kilometres (2.3 cu mi) in 1975. This led to an
international crisis during which Iraq threatened to bomb the Tabqa
Dam. An agreement was eventually reached between Syria and Iraq
after intervention by Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union. A similar
crisis, although not escalating to the point of military threats,
occurred in 1981 when the Keban Dam reservoir had to be refilled
after it had been almost emptied to temporarily increase Turkey's
hydroelectricity production. In 1984, Turkey unilaterally declared
that it would ensure a flow of at least 500 cubic metres (18,000
cu ft) per second, or 16 cubic kilometres (3.8 cu mi) per year,
into Syria, and in 1987 a bilateral treaty to that effect was signed
between the two countries. Another bilateral agreement from 1989
between Syria and Iraq settles the amount of water flowing into
Iraq at 60 percent of the amount that Syria receives from Turkey.
In 2008, Turkey, Syria and Iraq instigated the Joint Trilateral
Committee (JTC) on the management of the water in the Tigris–Euphrates
basin and on 3 September 2009 a further agreement was signed to
this effect. On 15 April 2014, Turkey began to reduce the flow of
the Euphrates into Syria and Iraq. The flow was cut off completely
on 16 May 2014 resulting in the Euphrates terminating at the Turkish–Syrian
border. This was in violation of an agreement reached in 1987 in
which Turkey committed to releasing a minimum of 500 cubic metres
(18,000 cu ft) of water per second at the Turkish–Syrian border.
![](Euphrates_River.jpg)
Euphrates
in Iraq, 2005
During the Syrian civil war and the Iraqi Civil War, much of the
Euphrates was controlled by the Islamic State from 2014 until 2017,
when the terrorist group began losing land and was eventually defeated
territorially in Syria at the Battle of Baghouz and in Iraq in the
Western Iraq offensive respectively.
Economy :
Throughout history, the Euphrates has been of vital importance to
those living along its course. With the construction of large hydropower
stations, irrigation schemes, and pipelines capable of transporting
water over large distances, many more people now depend on the river
for basic amenities such as electricity and drinking water than
in the past. Syria's Lake Assad is the most important source of
drinking water for the city of Aleppo, 75 kilometres (47 mi) to
the west of the river valley. The lake also supports a modest state-operated
fishing industry. Through a newly restored power line, the Haditha
Dam in Iraq provides electricity to Baghdad.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrates