Little Zab

Little Zab Kurdish: Zêy Koya or Zêyê Biçûk,[1] Arabic: الزاب الاسفل: al-Zāb al-Asfal,[1] Persian: زاب کوچک: Zâb-e Kuchak, Syriac: ܙܒܐ ܬܚܬܝܐ: Zāba taḥtāya, Byzantine Greek: μικρω Ζβαω,[1] Classical Greek: Κάπρος,[1] Akkadian: Zabū šupalū[1]
View of Lake Dukan, a reservoir on the Little Zab created by the Dukan Dam in Suleymaniyah, Iraq
French map showing the Little Zab (Petit Zab) and the locations of the Dukan Dam and the Dibis Dam
Location
Country	Iran, Iraq
Region	Iraqi Kurdistan
District	Erbil Governorate
Municipality	Erbil
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Zagros Mountains, Iran
• elevation	3,000 m (9,800 ft)approx.
Mouth
• location	Tigris, Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq
• coordinates	35°14′17″N 43°26′11″E / 35.23806°N 43.43639°E / 35.23806; 43.43639
Length	400 km (250 mi)approx.
Basin size	22,000 km2 (8,500 sq mi)approx.
Discharge
• average	197.8 m3/s (6,990 cu ft/s)
• maximum	3,420 m3/s (121,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Baneh, Qala Chulan, Rubar-i-Basalam

The Little Zab or Lower Zab (Arabic: الزاب الاسفل, al-Zāb al-Asfal; Kurdish: Zêy Koya or Zêyê Biçûk; Persian: زاب کوچک, Zâb-e Kuchak; Syriac: ܙܒܐ ܬܚܬܝܐ, Zāba Taḥtāya) is a river that originates in Iran and joins the Tigris just south of Al Zab in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Little Zab is approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) long and drains an area of about 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi). The river is fed by rainfall and snowmelt, resulting in a peak discharge in the spring and low water in the summer and early fall. Two dams built on the Little Zab regulate the river flow, providing water for irrigation and generating hydroelectricity. The Zagros Mountains have been populated since at least the Lower Palaeolithic, but the earliest archaeological site in the Little Zab basin, Barda Balka, dates to the Middle Palaeolithic. Human occupation of the Little Zab basin has been attested for every period since then.