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Confluence of the Aragvi and Mtkvari (Kura) rivers, Mtskheta.

Mtkvari (Kura) River near Old Town, Tbilisi.

Semi-desert landscape near Vardzia.

Kura (Turkish: Kura, Georgian: მტკვარი - Mtkvari, Azerbaijani: Kür) is a river in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in Eastern Turkey (formerly Georgian province of Tao), it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea. The total length of the river is 1,364 km.

The name Kura is taken from the name Kurosh which is the Persian pronunciation of the name of the Persian king Cyrus the Great. In ancient western documents this river was known as Cyrus. The Georgian name of Kura is Mtkvari, meaning "slow one". The name Kura was adopted first by the Russians and later by the European cartographers. In some definitions of Europe, the Kura River defines the borderline between Europe and Asia.^[1]

Previously navigable up to Tbilisi in Georgia, it is now much slower and shallower, as its power has been harnessed by hydroelectricity stations. The river is moderately polluted by major industrial centers like Tbilisi and Rustavi in Georgia.

The river should not be confused with the Kur River near Kursk, Russia, or another Kur River near Khabarovsk, also in Russia.

Main article: Rivers and lakes in Azerbaijan

The Kür and Aras are the principal rivers of Azerbaijan; they flow through the Küra-Arax lowland. The rivers that directly flow into the Caspian Sea originate mainly from the north-eastern slope of the major Caucasus and Talysh mountains and flow across the Samur-Devechi and Lenkeran lowlands.

The Kür (Mtkvari) River basin area (86,000 km²) up to the junction with the Aras River is smaller than the Aras (Arax) water basin (101,937 km²). The river is still called Kur from the junction because the water level of the Kur is twice as high as that of the Aras River.

• Rivers and lakes in Azerbaijan

• Kura. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.
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