Hawr al- Hammar

(Lake Hammar), a lake in Iraq, in the basin of the lower Euphrates and the Shatt al-Arab. The lake is 120 km long and has a maximum width of 20 km; it covers an area of approximately 2,000 sq km (in spring, high water covers up to 5,000 sq km). Hawr al-Hammar is surrounded by marshlands, and the reed Phragmites flourishes in its waters. An arm of the Euphrates empties into it in the west, and the lake drains into the Shatt al-Arab. Hawr al-Hammar has a depth of 1–2 m, except in April and May, when its level rises. Its southern part is navigable. The lake was formed in the fifth century when heavy flooding of the Euphrates caused dams to give way and inundated the lowland between the cities of Basra and Suq ash Shuyukh.