or Araks River
River in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
It rises in the mountains south of Erzurum, Turkey, and flows east to join the Kura River in Azerbaijan about 60 mi (95 km) from its mouth. Since a flood in 1897, a separate distributary of the Aras has also emptied into the Caspian Sea . About 570 mi (915 km) long, it forms the boundary between Armenia and Azerbaijan (north) and Turkey and Iran (south). Located on its banks from 180 BC to AD 50 was Armenia's capital, Artaxata.