Jordan River

The Jordan River (Hebrew: נהר הירדן nehar hayarden, Arabic: نهر الأردن nahr al-urdun,) is a river in Southwest Asia flowing through the Great Rift Valley into the Dead Sea. It is 251 kilometers (156 miles) long. Its tributaries are the Hasbani (Hebrew: שניר senir, Arabic: الحاصباني hasbani), which flows from Lebanon, Banias (Hebrew: חרמון hermon, Arabic: بانياس banias), arising from a spring at Banias at the base of Mount Hermon, and Dan (Hebrew: דן dan, Arabic: اللدان leddan), whose source is also at the base of Mount Hermon. The three merge to form the Jordan in northern Israel, near Kibbutz Sede Nehemya. The Jordan drops rapidly in a 75 kilometer run to swampy Lake Hula, which is slightly below sea level in the Rift Valley. Exiting the lake, it drops much more in about 25 kilometers to the Sea of Galilee.

The last section has less gradient, and the river begins to meander before it enters the Dead Sea, which is about 400 meters below sea level and has no outlet. Two major tributaries enter from the east during this last phase, the Yarmouk River and Jabbok River.

Its section north of the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: כינרת kinneret, Arabic: Bohayrat Tabaraya, meaning Lake of Tiberias) is within the boundaries of Israel (disputed by Syria), and forms the western boundary of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (Hebrew: רמת-הגולן).

South of the lake, it forms the border between the kingdom of Jordan (to the east) and Palestine/Israel (to the west). Further south, it forms the border between Jordan and the West Bank.

More...