page_title: Aras (river)
section_title: Etymology and history
hierarchical_section_title: Aras (river) / Etymology and history
caption_attribution_description: Aras River in Persian (IRAN) Empire 1747 map.
context_page_description: The Aras or Araxes is a river that starts in Turkey and then flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan area of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and finally through Azerbaijan to the Kura River. It drains the south side of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains and then joins the Kura, which drains the north side of Lesser Caucasus Mountains. Its total length is 1,072 kilometres, covering an area of 102,000 square kilometres. The Aras River is one of the largest rivers in the Caucasus.
context_section_description: In Armenian tradition, the river is named after Arast, a great-grandson of the legendary Armenian patriarch Haik. The name was later Hellenized to Araxes and was applied to the Kura-Araxes culture, a prehistoric people who flourished in the valleys of the Kura and Aras. The river is also mentioned in the last chapter of the Aeneid VIII by Virgil, as "angry at the bridge," since the Romans built a bridge over it, so that it is thereby conquered. The river Aras has been associated with the biblical rivers Gihon and Pishon. Robert H. Hewsen described Aras as the only "true river" of Armenia and as "Mother Araxes," a symbol of pride to the Armenian people.
  According to a legend cited by Strabo in ancient times Araxes river in Armenia had no outflow to Caspian sea but spread out in plains and created a lake without outflow.
  In Islamic times, the Araxes became known in Arabic parlance as al-Rass (not to be confused with modern-day Ar Rass) and in Perso-Turkish contexts as Aras.
  In modern history, the Aras gained significance as a geographic political boundary. Under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan and the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the river was chosen as the border limit between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran, as the latter was forced to cede its Caucasian territories to Russia. Because of this 19 century border changes one modern not widely accepted scheme draws Aras River as the line of continental demarcation between Europe and Asia . 
  Iran and the Soviet Union has in 20 century built the Aras Dam on the Aras in the Poldasht area creating the Aras Reservoir. The Meghri Dam is under construction near the Armenian town of Meghri.
caption: Aras River in the Persian Empire in a map from 1747
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