| Kızılırmak River | |
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Kızılırmak in İskilip (Taybi Ovası) |
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| Origin | Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey |
| Mouth | Black Sea |
| Basin countries | Turkey |
| Length | 1,350 km (840 mi) |
| Source elevation | 2,000 m (6,600 ft) |
| Mouth elevation | 0 |
The Kızılırmak (Turkish: Kızılırmak, "Red River"), also known as the Halys River (Ancient Greek: Ἅλυς), is the longest river in Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation.
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The Kızılırmak flows for a total of about 1,150 kilometers, rising in the eastern Anatolian highlands around , flowing first to the west and southwest until , then forming a wide arch, the "Halys bend", flowing first to the west, then to the northwest, passing to the northeast of Lake Tuz, then to the north and northeast, where it is joined by its major tributary, the Delice River (also known by its Greek name Cappadox) at , and after zigzagging to the northwest to the confluence with the Devrez River at , and back to the northeast, joining the Gökırmak before finally flowing into the Black Sea at .
The Hittites called it the Maraššantiya. It formed the western boundary of Hatti, the core land of the Hittite empire. In Classical Antiquity, it was the boundary between Asia Minor and the rest of Asia, and also the boundary between Pontos and Paphlagonia. As the site of the Battle of Halys or Battle of the Eclipse on May 28, 585 BC,[1] it was the border between Lydia to the west and Media to the east until Croesus of Lydia crossed it to attack Cyrus the Great in 547 BC. He was defeated and Persia expanded to the Aegean Sea.
The river water is used to grow rice.
The historical fiction manga Red River is named after and largely set in the Kızılırmak basin, during the age of the Hittites.
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