Euphrates Euphrates The Euphrates (; Sumerian: "Buranuna"; "Purattu"; "al-Furāt"; "Pǝrāt"; : "Yeprat"; "Perat"; ; ) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (the "Land between the Rivers"). Originating in eastern Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Ancient Greek form "Euphrátēs" (, as if from Greek εὖ "good" and ϕράζω "I announce or declare") was adapted from Old Persian 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 "Ufrātu", itself from Elamite
Tigris–Euphrates river system An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting streams and rivers. Shi'a Muslims were displaced under the Ba'athist regime. The destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations. There are also inadequate supplies of potable water. The marshlands were an extensive natural wetlands ecosystem which developed over thousands of years in the Tigris–Euphrates basin and once covered 15–20,000 square kilometers. According to the United Nations Environmental Program and the AMAR Charitable Foundation, between 84% and 90% of the marshes have been destroyed since the 1970s. In 1994, 60 percent of the wetlands were destroyed by Hussein's