Karun

The Kārun (also spelled as Karoun) (Persian: کارون) is Iran's most effluent and only navigable river. It is 725 km (450 mi) long. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as the Dez and the Kuhrang, before passing through the capital of the Khuzestan Province of Iran, the city of Ahvaz.

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]] (Shat al_arab in Arabic), emptying into the Persian Gulf. The important Island of Abadan is located between these two branches of the Karun. 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, the others being the Tigris, the Euphrates and either the Wadi Batin or the Karkheh.

Name

In early classical times, the Karun was known as the Pasitigris. The modern medieval and modern name, Karun, is a corruption of the name Kuhrang, which is still maintained by one of the two primary tributaries of the Karun.

Karun (disambiguation)

Karun is a river in Iran.

Karun (Persian: كارون‎‎) may also refer to:

Karuna

Karuna may refer to:

Karun-3 Dam

The Karun-3 dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Karun river in the province of Khuzestan, Iran. It was built to help meet Iran's energy demands as well as to provide flood control. The Karun has the highest discharge of Iran's rivers.

The purpose of the dam is for power generation and flood control. The Karun III power generators are connected to the national power network as the peak power generation. With this power plant being operated, with the capacity of 2,280 MW, and an average annual electric power generation of 4,137 GWh, a major portion of the electric power shortage in the country will be met.

The dam is a concrete double arch type, 205 m (673 ft) high from the foundation and 185 m (607 ft) high from the river bed. Its foundation width is 29.5 m (97 ft).

The arch dam design is an ideal one for a dam built in a narrow, rocky gorge to hold back water in a reservoir. Because of the arch shape, the force of the backed up water presses downward against the dam and has the effect of strengthening the dam foundation.