The Republic of Azerbaijan has an area of 86,600 square kilometers (km2) and a population of 7.77 million. Azerbaijan is located in the Kura River basin in the South Caucasus.

The principal river system is the Kura River and its tributaries the Araz (Aras) and Alazan (Alazani) Rivers that flow directly into the Caspian Sea. The river system of the country is divided into two groups: local and trans-boundary rivers.

The trans-boundary rivers in Azerbaijan are Kura River and its tributaries the Araz, Ganikh (Alazan) Rivers and other small rivers of the basin that discharge directly into the Caspian Sea. The Samur River flows along the Russian Azerbaijan border and Astarachay River flows along the Azerbaijan and Iran border.

The Kura River is the key water provider and the main water artery of the South Caucasus. The river flows through the territories of Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan Republics. The total watershed area is 188,000 km2 of which 58,000 km2 relates to Azerbaijan, 34,700 km2 to Georgia, 29,800 km2 to Armenia, and 66,000 km2 to Iran and Turkey. Therefore, about 30 per cent of the watershed area of the Kura River is in Azerbaijan.


The second largest river is Aras River. The river flows through Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan territories and falls into the Kura River near the Town of Sabirabad. The total watershed area is 102,000 km2 of which 18,740 km2 relates to Azerbaijan, 22,090 km2 to Armenia, and 61,000 km2 to Iran and Turkey. Therefore, only 18 per cent of the drainage area of the Aras River is in Azerbaijan.

The Ganikh (Alazan) River is the third largest river and flows through the territory of Georgia and Azerbaijan before discharging into Mingechevir Reservoir on Kura River and has a total watershed area of 12,080 km2.

The Samur River watershed area comprises 3,620 km2 and the Astarachay River is 242 km2. The watershed areas of rivers which drain directly into the Caspian Sea from northeast slope of Greater Caucasus and Lenkoran-Astara Zone are 22,500 km2 and 52,000 km2, respectively.

The water resources of rivers which flow into the Caspian Sea within Azerbaijan together with the Samur and Astarachay Rivers total approximately 31.5 km3. The total water resources are about 26.6 km3 from the Kura River and aррroximately 10 km3 from the Aras River system. The water resources of other rivers directly falling into the Caspian Sea from the Greater Caucasus north-east slope and Lankaran-Astara Zone make up approximately 4.67 km3 of which 2.17 km3 is related to the Samur River and 0.22 km3 to the Astarachay River.

About 25 per cent (7.5 km3) of total water resources of the rivers is formed within the Azerbaijan Republic. There are more than 8,300 rivers in this territory of Azerbaijan including small shallow rivers. The drainage density is about 0.36 km/km2 in the Azerbaijan Republic and about one-half of the drainage density of neighboring countries of the South Caucasus in the upper parts of the basins. The river system in the arid areas of Kura-Aras River lowlands is less developed. Many rivers of the Shirvan Zone dry up in summer before reaching of sea or the main river due to the lack of precipitation and the high level of evaporation.

Water supply in Azerbaijan is about 100,000 m3/ km2.This amounts to an average of about 1,200 m3 of water per person per year, putting the Azerbaijan as one of the lowest in the world. Water resources in Azerbaijan are distributed very irregularly over administrative districts and the water resources of Sheki-Zakatala Zone, Khachmaz and Kelbajar economic districts exceed those in other areas. The Absheron and Kura-Araz River lowlands are the most water-poor regions. During the period of vegetation the river run-off amounts is only 10 to 20 per cent of the annual amounts, and in the Lenkaran-Astara zone does not exceed 5 per cent.