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River

Kura River

1,360 km from source to mouth · Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

AzerbaijanGeorgiaTurkeyAzerbaijan, Georgia and TurkeyFlows into Caspian Sea1st longest in Azerbaijan

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthTbilisiYevlakh
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

1,360km

Average flow

440m³/s

Basin

188,000km²

Drop

2,010m

from 1,979 m to -31 m

Countries

3

The journey

From source to mouth

1,360 km of river and 67 stops on the way: 17 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,979 m-31 m
Armenian Highlandsat 1,979 m0 km
Paravani Rivertributary194 km
Borjomi11,194 people285 km
Tbilisi1,049,498 people465 km
Rustavi132,333 people493 km
Mingachevir106,048 people766 km
Yevlakh127,400 people796 km
Girdimançaytributary979 km
Lake Sarysu20 km²1,016 km
Neftçala18,661 people1,232 km
Caspian Seaat -31 m1,360 km
05001,0001,360 km
  1. 0 kmArmenian Highlandsat 1,979 m
  2. 91 kmArdahan22,927 people
  3. 194 kmParavani Rivertributary
  4. 233 kmUravelitributary
  5. 237 kmPotskhovistskalitributary
  6. 255 kmAtskuri1,539 people
  7. 285 kmBorjomi11,194 people
  8. 289 kmGujaretistskalitributary
  9. 318 kmKhashuri23,949 people
  10. 344 kmSuramulatributary
  11. 344 kmDzama rivertributary
  12. 371 kmGori44,524 people
  13. 374 kmTana Rivertributary
  14. 374 kmGreat Liakhvi Rivertributary
  15. 383 kmKvakhvreli2,091 people
  16. 392 kmTedzamitributary
  17. 403 kmKaspi12,708 people
  18. 405 kmLekhuratributary
  19. 426 kmKsanitributary
  20. 438 kmMtskheta7,606 people
  21. 439 kmAragvi Rivertributary
  22. 450 kmGldaniskhevitributary
  23. 455 kmDigomistskalitributary
  24. 458 kmVakhushti Bagrationi Bridge
  25. 459 kmQueen Tamar Bridge
  26. 462 kmGuram Dochanashvili Bridge
  27. 462 kmVere Rivertributary
  28. 463 kmNikoloz Baratashvili Bridge
  29. 463 kmMukhrani Bridge
  30. 463 kmBridge of Peace
  31. 465 kmTbilisi1,049,498 people
  32. 465 kmdam of Ortachala HPP
  33. 465 kmSamasi Aragveli Bridge
  34. 481 kmLochinitributary
  35. 493 kmRustavi132,333 people
  36. 529 kmAlgeti Rivertributary
  37. 533 kmKhrami Rivertributary
  38. 541 kmKoghbtributary
  39. 569 kmAghstevtributary
  40. 581 kmVaragajurtributary
  41. 634 kmDzegamchaytributary
  42. 647 kmDzhagirchaytributary
  43. 658 kmShamkir reservoir74 km²
  44. 663 kmShamkirchaytributary
  45. 672 kmYenikend reservoir17 km²
  46. 692 kmGanjachaytributary
  47. 708 kmIori Rivertributary
  48. 717 kmAlazanitributary
  49. 759 kmMingachevir reservoir416 km²
  50. 760 kmMingechevir Hydro Power Plant
  51. 766 kmMingachevir106,048 people
  52. 783 kmAlidzhanchaytributary
  53. 786 kmOzero Akhmaz0.6 km²
  54. 796 kmYevlakh127,400 people
  55. 831 kmTartartributary
  56. 876 kmXaçınçaytributary
  57. 889 kmQarqar Rivertributary
  58. 916 kmZardob10,612 people
  59. 916 kmTuryantributary
  60. 934 kmMekhman4.9 km²
  61. 979 kmGirdimançaytributary
  62. 1,016 kmLake Sarysu20 km²
  63. 1,040 kmSabirabad30,612 people
  64. 1,052 kmAras Rivertributary
  65. 1,113 kmŞirvan70,220 people
  66. 1,176 kmOzero Duzdag5.0 km²
  67. 1,177 kmSalyan36,555 people
  68. 1,232 kmNeftçala18,661 people
  69. 1,360 kmCaspian Seaat -31 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in South Caucasus

At the mouth it carries 443 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 5.6 seconds. It drops from 1,979 m to -31 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 188,000 km², about the size of SY. 13.3 million people live in it. Highest water: May. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 90% of a year's flow.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • TbilisiLargest city on its banks · 1,049,498 people
  • Tbilisi International Airport (TBS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 10 km from the cityCar hire at TBS airport (Tbilisi)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water6 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Kura River, month by month

Highest water: May

Best months to visit: from May to September.

640
0°27 mmJan
1,200
1°29 mmFeb
1,200
5°34 mmMar
1,300
11°48 mmApr
1,900
16°62 mmMay
1,400
20°58 mmJun
1,100
23°35 mmJul
590
23°33 mmAug
200
19°34 mmSep
370
13°47 mmOct
770
8°38 mmNov
1,100
2°32 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 200 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,900 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at TBS airport (Tbilisi)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Kura River: the basin in numbers

188,377 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 90% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.
  • 13.3millionpeople live in the basin
  • 71/km²people per km²
  • 1,337maverage altitude of the basin
  • 511mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.7°Caverage air temperature
  • 8%protected areas
  • 1.3%covered by lakes
  • 20km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 8% Forest
  • 26% Cropland
  • 35% Pasture
  • 3% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Kura River: what you find on the way

  • 15DamsKöroğlu Barajı, Kotanlı 2 Dam, Kayabeyi Barajı and 12 more
  • 36Weirs
  • 25WaterfallsLeghvtakhevi Waterfall and 24 more
  • 3Boat rampsMtskheta Pier
  • 1Ferry piersPriçal
  • 2Boat rentalsSUP priyut
  • 1River beachesMingachevir Beach

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Kura River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 7lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 6mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (7)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Shamkir reservoirkm 55574km²
  2. Yenikend reservoirkm 56817km²
  3. Mingachevir reservoirkm 641 · 75 m deep416km²
  4. Ozero Akhmazkm 6640.6km²
  5. Mekhmankm 789 · 2 m deep4.9km²
  6. Lake Sarysukm 858 · 6 m deep20km²
  7. Ozero Duzdagkm 9935.0km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (6)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Zuğku14 km away
  2. Koyun Hill2.4 km away
  3. Kartal Hill14 km away
  4. Top Hill7.9 km away
  5. Kabak Hill15 km away
  6. Büyükboğa Hill11 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Kura River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Kura River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth59 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Kura River in pictures

Mtskheta, Mtkvari and Aragvi, Georgia
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Tbilisi, Old Tbilisi, Kura River 2, Georgia
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
IMG-Kura 23456
İmirisil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kura river 2
Tiia Monto · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (44)

Aras RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan1,072 km280 m³/sjoins at km 888AlazaniAzerbaijanAzerbaijan351 km98 m³/sjoins at km 606Iori RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan320 km120 m³/sjoins at km 598Khrami RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan201 km51 m³/sjoins at km 450TartarAzerbaijanAzerbaijan184 km23 m³/sjoins at km 702AghstevAzerbaijanAzerbaijan133 km8.2 m³/sjoins at km 481Aragvi RiverGeorgiaGeorgia112 km33 m³/sjoins at km 370KsaniGeorgiaGeorgia84 km15 m³/sjoins at km 360

Also: Great Liakhvi River, Algeti River, Qarqar River, Xaçınçay, Turyan, Vere River, Shamkirchay, Kürəkçay, Paravani River, Suramula, Ganjachay, Lekhura, Girdimançay, Podkumok, Potskhovistskali, Tedzami, Koghb, Dzama river, Digomistskali, Tavush, Dzegamchay, Uraveli, Aghsu River, Dzhagirchay

In the same basin

Hrazdan RiverArmeniaArmenia141 km18 m³/sAkhurian RiverTurkeyTurkey186 km270 m³/sDebedGeorgiaGeorgia178 km30 m³/sVorotan RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan178 km22 m³/sArpa RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan128 km21 m³/sAzat RiverArmeniaArmenia55 km36 m³/sKasagh RiverArmeniaArmenia89 km6.8 m³/sHakari RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan170 km16 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Aras RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan1,072 km280 m³/s112 km awaySefid RudIranIran670 km310 m³/s211 km awayVorotan RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan178 km22 m³/s231 km awayTartarAzerbaijanAzerbaijan184 km23 m³/s218 km awayHakari RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan170 km16 m³/s222 km awayAlazaniAzerbaijanAzerbaijan351 km98 m³/s295 km awayIori RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan320 km120 m³/s309 km awayArpa RiverAzerbaijanAzerbaijan128 km21 m³/s383 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q156557) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit