Enguri

The Enguri (ენგური,, Егры, Egry) is a river in western Georgia. It is 213 km long, and has a drainage basin of 4060 km2. It originates near Ushguli in northeastern Svaneti 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 Anaklia.

Since the Abkhaz–Georgian conflict, both Georgia and Abkhazia keep troops on the river; Russia also keeps peacekeeping troops. The only legal crossing-point is the 870 m long Enguri 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 Enguri 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 e6m3 of water. The underground water works produce about 40% of the national energy. The capacity is 1,300 megawatts.