Karun River

Karun (Kārun)
River
Karun River in Khuzestan Province of Iran.
Country	Iran
Provinces	Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khuzestan
Cities	Shushtar, Ahwāz, Khorramshahr
Source	Zard Kuh
- location	Zagros, Khuzestan
Mouth	Arvand Roud
- location	Khorramshahr
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	950 km (590 mi)
Basin	65,230 km2 (25,185 sq mi)
Discharge	for Ahwāz
- average	575 m3/s (20,306 cu ft/s)
- max	2,995 m3/s (105,767 cu ft/s)
- min	26 m3/s (918 cu ft/s)
Map of the Karun River

The Kārun (also spelled as Karoun) (Persian: کارون) is Iran's most affluent and only navigable river. It is 725 km (450 mi) long. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as the Dez and the Kuhrang, before passing through the capital of the Khuzestan Province of Iran, the city of Ahvaz.

The Karun continues toward the Persian Gulf, forking into two primary branches on its delta - the Bahmanshir and the Haffar - that join Arvand Roud, emptying into the Persian Gulf. The important Island of Abadan is located between these two branches of the Karun. The port city of Khorramshahr is divided from the Island of Abadan by the Haffar branch.

Juris Zarins and other scholars have identified the Karun as one of the four rivers of Eden, the others being the Tigris, the Euphrates and either the Wadi Batin or the Karkheh.

In early classical times, the Karun was known as the Pasitigris. The modern medieval and modern name, Karun, is a corruption of the name Kuhrang, which is still maintained by one of the two primary tributaries of the Karun.

It originates in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, on the slopes of 4,221 m (13,848 ft) Zard-Kuh. The river flows south and west through several prominent mountain ridges, and receives additional water from the Vanak on the south bank and the Bazuft on the north. These tributaries add to the catchment of the river above the Karun-4 Dam. 25 kilometres (16 mi) downstream, the Karun widens into the reservoir formed by the Karun-3 Dam.