The Euphrates ( yoo-FRAY-teez; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (lit. 'the land between the rivers'). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates is the fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in West Asia, at about 2,780 km (1,730 mi), with a drainage area of 440,000 km2 (170,000 mi2) that covers six countries.
