Karun

Karun
Map of the Karun River
Native name	کارون (Persian)
Location
Country	Iran
Provinces	Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khuzestan
Cities	Shushtar, Ahwāz, Khorramshahr
Physical characteristics
Source	Zard Kuh
• location	Zagros, Khuzestan
Mouth	Arvand Roud
• location	Khorramshahr
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	950 km (590 mi)
Basin size	65,230 km2 (25,190 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Ahwāz
• average	575 m3/s (20,300 cu ft/s)
• minimum	26 m3/s (920 cu ft/s)[1]
• maximum	2,995 m3/s (105,800 cu ft/s)[1]

The Karun^[2] (Persian: کارون, IPA: [kɒːˈɾuːn]) is the Iranian river with the highest water flow, and the country's only navigable river. It is 950 km (590 mi) long. The Karun rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as the Dez and the Kuhrang. It passes through the city of Ahvaz, the capital of the Khuzestan Province of Iran, before emptying to its mouth into Arvand Rud.^[3]

The Karun continues toward the Persian Gulf, forking into two primary branches on its delta – the Bahmanshir and the Haffar – that join the Arvand Rud, emptying into the Persian Gulf. The important Island of Abadan is located between these two branches of the Karun.^[4] 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 (Gihon), the others being the Tigris, the Euphrates, and either the Wadi al-Batin or the Karkheh.