Georgia Rivers Map: The Black Sea and Caspian Drainage Basins

A river flowing through Georgia does not necessarily head toward its Black Sea coast. Some rivers cross the country on their way to the Caspian, while northern mountain valleys carry water into Russia. This map concerns Georgia the country, not the U.S. state.

1. Georgia rivers map: two drainage destinations

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Read the colors as the eventual destination of runoff, not the immediate direction of every river bend. A stream can turn north or south locally while remaining part of a much larger drainage system. Tributaries carry water into other rivers before it reaches a sea; they are not separate coastal outlets.

The map uses HydroBASINS and HydroRIVERS, global hydrographic datasets derived from elevation data. River lines are generalized and selected for legibility; small tributaries are omitted. Minor coastline and border-edge mismatches reflect the different source resolutions. The outline represents Georgia within its internationally recognized borders; it is not a map of present-day administrative control.

For the country’s broader setting, see our Georgia country guide. The Black Sea location guide shows how the western drainage destination fits into the wider region.

2. Which rivers reach which sea?

A practical river key

The rivers below provide a useful starting network, not a complete inventory of Georgian watercourses. “Via” indicates a downstream connection: the river named in the first column need not reach the sea under its own name.

This distinction is particularly useful around Tbilisi and Mtskheta. The river through Tbilisi is the Mtkvari, also widely known as the Kura. At Mtskheta, the Aragvi contributes water to that same system. Our Mtkvari or Kura article explains the river’s names in more detail.

The northern routes are easy to miss

The Tergi rises in Georgia’s northern mountain country and flows into Russia. Its eventual destination is the Caspian, but it does not first join the Mtkvari. Other northern catchments include the Asa and Argun connections within the Terek system, and Georgian headwaters within the Sulak basin, as documented in UNECE’s assessment of transboundary waters. The map shows selected river channels rather than every stream, so some northern catchments are represented by basin shading without a labeled river line. A map that labels every Caspian-draining part of Georgia “Kura basin” would therefore be misleading.

3. Why the Likhi Range matters

The Likhi divide separates drainage, not countries

The Likhi Range is an important watershed between western Black Sea drainage and eastern Caspian drainage. A watershed divide is the higher ground separating neighboring catchments: runoff on opposite sides enters different river systems. It is not a river channel, and it is not a political border.

That broad west–east pattern is a useful first explanation, but not a rule that can be drawn as a straight line through Georgia. The divide follows the landscape. The northern valleys described above show why the full national drainage picture also depends on the Greater Caucasus and its headwaters, not just the Likhi Range.

Two nearby locations can therefore send water toward different seas, while distant locations can share the same downstream river. To identify the destination of a particular tributary, follow its connections rather than guessing from its longitude. The basin shading helps at national scale; it should not be used as a surveyed property boundary or a detailed flood-risk assessment.

4. Rivers that cross national borders

National borders divide jurisdictions, not complete drainage systems. The Mtkvari begins in Turkey, crosses Georgia and continues through Azerbaijan to the Caspian. The Chorokhi also begins in Turkey, but its downstream destination is the Black Sea. These two rivers make a useful contrast: the same neighboring country can supply headwaters to different sea basins.

The Alazani and Iori link eastern Georgia with Azerbaijan, while the Tergi connects Georgian headwaters with Russia. Such connections mean an upstream and a downstream country can be concerned with the same river even when most of its course lies outside one of them. A national map is only one window onto that larger network.

Keep the distinction between a river and its basin in mind. A basin includes the land drained by the river and its tributaries. Naming the countries crossed by a main channel does not necessarily list every country contributing water to its entire basin. Equally, a line drawn along a river is not automatically an international boundary: only some river reaches serve that role.

5. River length is not river flow

Whole-river length and length within Georgia

A transboundary river can have a long total course but a much shorter Georgian segment. Those are different measurements, not competing answers to the same question. The 2017 NVE–National Environmental Agency report gives the Mtkvari/Kura a total length of about 860 miles (1,384 km), including about 218 miles (351 km) in Georgia. Both figures belong to that report’s description; the longer one must not be labeled “length in Georgia.”

Even official publications do not always agree. Geostat’s 2015 environmental publication gives the Mtkvari a length of about 203 miles (326 km) in a table explicitly limited to Georgian territory. That differs from the 2017 report’s Georgian segment. These sources do not establish a single reconciled figure, so this guide does not combine them into a supposedly definitive longest-river ranking.

When comparing river lengths, first check whether the source measures the entire international river, only the part within Georgia, or a particular named reach. Then compare figures using the same scope. A table heading or footnote can matter as much as the number itself. The mile equivalents here are rounded conversions of the published kilometer figures, not additional measurements.

Discharge answers a different question

Length measures distance along a river. Discharge measures the volume of water passing a point per unit of time, commonly expressed in cubic feet or cubic meters per second. A longer river is not automatically the river carrying the most water, and a single discharge measurement does not describe every season.

A meaningful flow comparison needs a location and a time basis, such as an average for a stated period at a particular gauging station. A value near a river’s source cannot be compared casually with one near another river’s mouth. For that reason, this map is a drainage reference rather than a ranking of river size, water availability or flood danger.

Related posts:

Mtkvari or Kura? Following the Flow of the South Caucasus Georgian Grape Varieties Georgia: Country Profile – the South Caucasus Major US Rivers and Drainage Basins Map