River · Türkiye
Kızılırmak
Kızılırmak is the longest river of Türkiye. On its way of 1355 kilometres it draws a huge loop through Anatolia and then reaches the Black Sea in a broad delta near Bafra.
Picture credit: Bernard Gagnon (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Leyla kılınç (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Kızılırmak?
The river starts here: Kızıldağ mountains in central-eastern Türkiye.
It ends in the Black Sea, with a delta near Bafra.
Countries on the river: Türkiye.
The story behind it
The name of this river means Red River, and it fits: the water often looks reddish because it washes clay and iron-rich soil out of the Anatolian highlands. First it flows west, then it swings round in a great bend and turns north towards the coast. On its way it passes near Cappadocia, a strange landscape of soft rock cones in which people once carved houses and churches. Several dams hold the river back and make electricity, and the lakes behind them are popular with wintering birds. In the delta near Bafra there are reed beds, buffalo pastures and thousands of herons, ducks and pelicans. In early summer the river can swell with rain and melting snow, while late in the year it grows quiet, shallow and slow.
Questions children ask
How long is the Kızılırmak?
The Kızılırmak is 1355 kilometres long. No other river that begins and ends inside Türkiye covers such a distance.
Which country does the Kızılırmak flow through?
The Kızılırmak stays in Türkiye from beginning to end. It crosses central Anatolia and several provinces before reaching the northern coast.
Where does the Kızılırmak end?
The Kızılırmak flows into the Black Sea near Bafra. Its delta there is one of the most important wetlands for birds in the whole country.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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