TheKızılırmak (Turkish pronunciation:[kɯzɯlɯrmak],Turkish for "Red River"), once known as theHalys River (Ancient Greek:Ἅλυς) andAlisRiver, is the longest river flowing entirely withinTurkey. It is a source ofhydroelectric power and is not used for navigation.
The land is some of the most fertile in Turkey: more than half is farmed.[8][15] The town ofBafra on the delta and the nearby coastal city ofSamsun made money fromtobacco in the 19th and 20th centuries,[16] but in the 2020s the main crop is rice.[8]
In the 1st century ADVespasian combined several provinces, including Cappadocia, to create one large province with its eastern boundary marked by theEuphrates River. This province once again splintered duringTrajan's reign - the newly created province of Cappadocia, bounded by the Euphrates to the East, includedPontus andLesser Armenia. The Halys River became an interior river and never regained its significance as a political border. In the 130s a governor of Cappadocia wrote: "long ago the Halys River was the boundary between the kingdom ofCroesus and the Persian Empire; now it flows under Roman dominion."[24]
The river's water is used to grow rice and in a few areaswater buffalo are kept. There are dams on the river atBoyabat,Altınkaya andDerbent. Dams have reduced the flow of sediment to the delta, allowing coastal erosion.[25]
^"Kızılırmak Deltası'nda Bahar Güzelliği".2023 yılında yaklaşık 100 bin kişinin ziyaret ettiği delta Ramazan Bayramı tatilinde ise yaklaşık 7 bin 500 ziyaretçiyi ağırladı.
^abKızılırmak Deltası Revize Sulak Alan Yönetim Planı (2025-2034) [Kızılırmak Delta Revised Wetland Management Plan (2025-2034)] (Report) (in Turkish).Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Turkey), 11th Region, 19 Mayıs Mah. Ağabali Cad. No: 13/A İlkadım/SAMSUN.
^"Ulusal Sulak Alan Komi̇syonu 2024 yili Olağan Toplantisi yapildi" [The 2024 regular meeting of the National Wetland Commission was held].tarimorman.gov.tr.Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved12 March 2025.USAK'ın …. 2024 yılı Olağan Toplantısı'nda …. Kızılırmak Deltası Revize Sulak Alan Yönetim Planı (2025-2034) …. onaylanarak yürürlüğe girdi. [At the 2024 ordinary meeting …. of the national wetland commission …. the Kızılırmak Delta Revised Wetland Management Plan (2025-2034) …. was approved and entered into force.]
^Matthews, Roger; Glatz, Claudia (2009). "The historical geography of north-central Anatolia in the Hittite period: texts and archaeology in concert".Anatolian Studies.59:51–72.Identification of the modern Kızılırmak, Classical Halys, with the Hittite Marassanta is well-established and need not be here reviewed.
^Historically it was known as the Battle of Halys; it has since been renamed by some as the Battle of the Eclipse, as the first premodern battle which can be dated with certainty due to the eclipse which brought about its sudden end.
^Dam, Raymond Van (2002-08-30).Kingdom of Snow: Roman Rule and Greek Culture in Cappadocia. University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN978-0-8122-3681-1.
