Euphrates River (redirected from Firat Nehri)

Euphrates River

 Turkish Firat Nehri Arabic Nahr al Furat

River, Middle East. The largest river in Southwest Asia, it rises in Turkey and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq. Formed by the confluence of the Karasu and the Murat rivers in the high Armenian plateau, the Euphrates descends between major ranges of the Taurus Mountains to the Syrian plateau. It then flows through western and central Iraq to unite with the Tigris and continues, as Shatt al-Arab, to the Persian Gulf. In all, it is 1,740 mi (2,800 km) long. Its valley was heavily irrigated in ancient times, and many great cities, some of whose ruins remain, lined its banks. With the Tigris, it defines an area known historically as Mesopotamia.