Sunday, August 30, 2026 Search My Trip EnglishChinese
World news · travel · culture
Taiwan The Taiwan Times
Taiwan's window to the world

Yeşilırmak River

The 836th longest river in the world

519 km

The Yeşilırmak (Yeşilırmak, lit. 'green river'), known as the Iris in antiquity (Ancient Ἶ), is a river in northern Turkey. From its source northeast of Sivas, it flows past Tokat and Amasya, crosses the Pontic Mountains and the Çarşamba Plain, reaching the Black Sea east of Samsun after 418 km (260 mi). Its tributaries include the Çekerek (ancient Scylax) and the Kelkit (ancient Lycus). It was mentioned by Menippus of Pergamon in the 1st century BC. Strabo's Geographica describes it as flowing through Comana Pontica, the plain of Dazimonitis (Kaşova) (40°17′41″N 36°17′48″E), and Gaziura (probably modern Turhal) before receiving the waters (40°33′42″N 35°45′34″E) of the Scylax, then flowing through Amaseia (Amasya) before reaching the valley of Phanaroea. Starting with Dionysius Periegetes, in his Periegesis of the World, the Iris is often confused with the Thermodon (modern Terme), which also crosses the Themiscyra Plain (modern Çarşamba Plain), with its mouth about 40 km further east; the Thermodon is much smaller and clearer.

Flows through: Turkey.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.

Other major rivers

  1. Amazon6,992 km
  2. Nile6,650 km
  3. Yangtze River6,300 km
  4. Bian River5,806 km
  5. Yellow River5,464 km
  6. Paraná River4,880 km
  7. River Congo4,700 km
  8. Mekong River4,350 km