Shatt al-Arab
river in Southwest Asia, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq
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The Shatt al-Arab is a river in Southwest Asia formed where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers meet near the town of al-Qurnah in southern Iraq. It matters because it serves as a major waterway in the region and forms part of the geography of Iraq's Basra Governorate.
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The Shatt al-Arab (Arabic: شط العرب, lit. 'River of the Arabs') is a river about 200 kilometres (120 mi) in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the Iran–Iraq border down to its mouth, where it discharges into the Persian Gulf. The Shatt al-Arab varies in width from about 232 metres (761 ft) at Basra to 800 metres (2,600 ft) at its mouth. It is thought that the waterway formed relatively recently in geological time, with the Tigris and Euphrates originally emptying into the Persian Gulf via a channel further to the west. Kuwait's Bubiyan Island is part of the Shatt al-Arab delta.
The Karun, a tributary which joins the waterway from the Iranian side, deposits large amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable.