Little Zab

Little Zab
Kurdish: Zêy Koya or Zêyê Biçûk‎, Arabic: الزاب الاسفل‎‎: al-Zāb al-Asfal, Persian: زاب کوچک‎‎: Zâb-e Kuchak, Syriac: ܙܒܐ ܬܚܬܝܐ‎: Zāba taḥtāya, Byzantine Greek: μικρω Ζβαω, Classical Greek: Κπροω, Akkadian: Zabū šupalū
River
View of Lake Dukan, a reservoir on the Little Zab created by the Dukan Dam in Iraqi Kurdistan
Countries	Iran, Iraq
Region	Iraqi Kurdistan
District	Erbil Governorate
Municipality	Erbil
Tributaries
- left	Baneh, Qala Chulan, Rubar-i-Basalam
City	Qaladiza, Dukan, Taqtaq, Altin Kopru
Landmark	Lake Dukan
Source
- location	Zagros Mountains, Iran
- elevation	3,000 m (9,843 ft) approx.
Mouth
- location	Tigris, Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq
- coordinates	35°14′17″N 43°26′11″E / 35.23806°N 43.43639°E / 35.23806; 43.43639Coordinates: 35°14′17″N 43°26′11″E / 35.23806°N 43.43639°E / 35.23806; 43.43639
Length	400 km (249 mi) approx.
Basin	22,000 km2 (8,494 sq mi) approx.
Discharge
- average	197.8 m3/s (6,985 cu ft/s)
- max	3,420 m3/s (120,776 cu ft/s)
French map showing the Little Zab (Petit Zab) and the locations of the Dukan Dam and the Dibis Dam

The Little Zab or Lower Zab (Arabic: الزاب الاسفل‎‎, al-Zāb al-Asfal; Kurdish: Zêy Koya‎ or Zêyê Biçûk; Persian: زاب کوچک‎‎, Zâb-e Kuchak; Syriac: ܙܒܐ ܬܚܬܝܐ‎, Zāba Taḥtāya) originates in Iran and joins the Tigris just south of Al Zab in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The river is approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) long and drains an area of about 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi). The river is fed by rainfall and snowmelt, resulting in a peak discharge in spring and low water in summer and early fall. Two dams have been built on the Little Zab, regulating the river flow, providing water for irrigation and generating hydroelectricity. The Zagros Mountains have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic, but the earliest archaeological site in the Little Zab basin, Barda Balka, dates to the Middle Palaeolithic. Human occupation of the Little Zab basin has been attested for every period since then.

The Little Zab rises in the Zagros Mountains in Iran at an elevation of circa 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) amsl. In its upper reaches, the course of the Little Zab is determined by the alignment of the major mountain chains that make up the Zagros. Thus, the river flows through valleys that are predominantly aligned along a northwest–southeast axis, parallel to the major mountain chains of the Zagros, only to change its direction abruptly where it cuts through these chains in narrow gorges. The Little Zab enters the plain south of Dukan, where it first assumes a roughly westward course before turning to the southwest upstream from the town of Altun Kopru and uniting with the Tigris near the town of Al Zab. Most tributaries join the Little Zab upstream from Dukan, with the largest being the Baneh River and the Qala Chulan. A number of smaller streams joined the Little Zab in the Ranya Plain, which is now partly inundated by Lake Dukan.