Inguri River

Infobox River
river_name = Inguri


caption = The Inguri River Gorge in Svaneti
origin = Caucasus Major
mouth = Black Sea
basin_countries = (Abkhazia), Georgia
length = 213 km
elevation =
mouth_elevation =
discharge =
watershed =

The Inguri ( _ka. ენგური, "Enguri"; _ab. Егры, "Egry"), is a river in western Georgia. It is 213 km long, originates in northeastern Svaneti near the the region of Racha and plays an important role providing hydroelectric power to the area.

The river emerges from the high Caucasus near the highest mountain in Georgia, Shkhara, and winds through the mountain valleys to the northwest before turning southwest to empty into the Black Sea near Zugdidi.

Since the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict (1992-1993), both Georgia and Abkhazia keep troops on the river; Russia also keeps peacekeeping troops. The only legal crossing-point is the 870 m-long Inguri Bridge, which was built by German prisoners of war from 1944 until 1948. There are also a number of illegal connections across the river.

The river plays an important role in the Georgian energy production. In 1988 the Inguri Dam was built at a height of 240 m. At 750 m across and 271.5 m high, it is the largest construction in the Caucasus. It has a capacity of 1.1 million cubic meters of water. The underground water works produces 4.5 million kilowatts of energy yearly, about 40% of the national energy production. The capacity is 1,300 megawatts.

External links

* [http://www.eurasischesmagazin.de/artikel/?thema=Kaukasus&artikelID=20040307 Inguri Bridge, the control point between Georgia and Abkhazia]
* [http://www.eurekos.it/euro/projetgeorgiafin.htm Inguri Dam, statistics and photos]