TheAras[a] is a transboundary river in theCaucasus. It rises in easternTurkey and flows along the borders between Turkey andArmenia, between Turkey and theNakhchivan exclave ofAzerbaijan, betweenIran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, finally, through Azerbaijan where it flows into theKura river as a right tributary. It drains the south side of theLesser Caucasus Mountains, while the Kura drains the north side of the Lesser Caucasus. The river's total length is 1,072 km (666 mi) and itswatershed covers an area of 102,000 km2 (39,000 sq mi). The Aras is one of the longest rivers in the Caucasus.
In classical antiquity, the river was known to the Greeks asAraxes (Greek:Ἀράξης). Its modernArmenian name isArax orAraks (Armenian:Արաքս). Historically, it was calledEraskh (Old Armenian:Երասխ,Yeraskh in modern pronunciation) by Armenians and itsOld Georgian name isRakhsi (რახსი). InAzerbaijani, the river's name isAraz. InPersian,Kurdish andTurkish its name isارس (Aras).
The word "Aras" in a map by James Wyld from 1855Another map from 1856 that recognized this river with the word "Aras"
The Aras is supported by the Kocagün stream, Dallı stream and Orman stream from theBingöl Mountains on the borders ofVarto district merge with it around the Kırıkhan village ofTekman district.[1][2] It is surrounded by theAras Mountains from the south.[3] The Aras meets theAkhuryan River southeast ofDigor. From Digor it flows along theArmenia–Turkey border, then runs close to the corridor that connects Turkey toAzerbaijan'sNakhchivan exclave, and continues along the Iranian-Armenian and the Iranian-Azerbaijani border.[4] The Aras is fed by several major tributaries, including theArpa Çayı (also known as the Akhuryan), which gathers the waters from theKars River andLake Çıldır located in Turkey, theHrazdan River, which empties intoLake Sevan in Armenia, and the Qareh Sū, originating from the Sabalān Mountains in northeastern Iranian Azerbaijan.[5]
The lowest point in Armenia is a point along the Aras at an elevation of 380 metres (1,250 ft).[6]
Aras River in the Persian Empire in a map from 1747
InArmenian tradition, the river is named afterArast, a great-grandson of the legendary Armenian patriarchHaik.[10] The name was laterHellenized toAraxes and was applied to theKura–Araxes culture, a prehistoric people who flourished in the valleys of the Kura and Aras. The river is also mentioned in the last chapter of Virgil'sAeneid VIII, as "angry at the bridge," since the Romans built a bridge over it so that it is thereby conquered. The river Aras has been associated with the biblical riversGihon andPishon.[11]Robert H. Hewsen described Aras as the only "true river" ofArmenia and as "Mother Araxes," a symbol of pride to the Armenian people.[12]
According to a legend cited byStrabo, in ancient times, the Araxes river inArmenia had no outflow to theCaspian Sea, but spread out in plains and created a lake without outflow.[13]
During Islamic times, the Araxes became known in Arabic parlance asal-Rass (not to be confused with modern-dayAr Rass) and in Perso-Turkish contexts asAras.[4]
In modern history, the Aras gained significance as a geographic political boundary. Under the terms of theTreaty of Gulistan and theTreaty of Turkmenchay, the river was chosen as the border limit between theRussian Empire andQajar Iran, as the latter was forced to cede itsCaucasian territories to Russia.[14] Because of these 19th-century border changes, one modern, not widely accepted scheme draws Aras River as the line of continental demarcation between Europe and Asia.[15]
In 2006, a bird research and education center was established byKuzeyDoğa, a Turkish non-governmental organization for nature conservation, in the Aras Valley at the village Yukarı Çıyrıklı, in theTuzluca district ofIğdır Province, Turkey. It is one of Turkey's two bird-ringing stations that remain active yearly.[17] Between 2006 and 2021, more than 145,000 birds of 201 species were ringed, and 306 bird species were observed at this station. Sixty-three percent of the 489 bird species found in Turkey are recorded at this wetland, making it eastern Turkey's most species-rich wetland for birds. The number of ringed and observed 306 bird species comprises 90 percent of the 340 bird species in Iğdır Province, the most bird species rich landlocked province of Turkey. Seven new bird species were observed during the bird ringing activities in 2012 alone, including theraptorShikra, or Little Banded Goshawk (Accipiter badius), which was new to Turkey's avifauna.[18][19]
A Biology professor at theUniversity of Utah and a president of the KuzeyDoğa Society, Çağan Şekercioğlu, appealed to theMinistry of Forest and Water Management to drop the Tuzluca Dam project, which would destroy the wetland harboring bird wildlife in the Aras Valley.[18][20] In 2013, the ministry granted the site the highest level of conservation status (Nature Conservation Area).
^Bauer-Manndorff, Elisabeth (1981).Armenia: Past and Present. Armenian Prelacy. p. 49.ASINB0006EXQ9C.
^"Calumet, A. D. 1672–1757, Rosebmuller, 1768–1835, Kell, 1807–1888, and some other scholars believed the source river [for Eden] was a region of springs. The Pishon and Gihon were mountain streams. The former may have been the Phasis or Araxes, and the latter the Oxus." Duncan, George S. (October 1929) "The Birthplace of Man"The Scientific Monthly 29(4): pp. 359-362, p. 360
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