Iraq 
In numbers.
1.1m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Jan–Apr
Best months
566m
Elevation
The water at Geli Eli Beg Waterfall, month by month
It roars from March to April.
The fullest months: from March to April. The thinnest: from June to October.
- 1.6 m³/sJan
- 2.1 m³/sFeb
- 3.3 m³/sMar
- 2.9 m³/sApr
- 1.5 m³/sMay
- 0.5 m³/sJun
- 0.1 m³/sJul
- 0.1 m³/sAug
- 0.1 m³/sSep
- 0.4 m³/sOct
- 1.2 m³/sNov
- 1.3 m³/sDec
From about 0.10 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.3 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from January to April.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Getting there.
- Khalīfānnearest town · 4.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 70 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Erbil International Airport (EBL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 63 km in a straight line
- From January to Aprilbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 127 m in 3.1 km. Here the river runs about 197 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 4viewpointsشاخى بردراو, شلال گلي علي, مكاني شلال كلي علي m&h and 1 more
- —waymarked walking routes
- 1car parks
- —swimming spots
- 2picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 2other named waterfalls within 4 kmتاڤگەی کانی ماران
- —caves
- —campsites
- 13hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmSoran Palace Hotel, مۆتێلی گەلی, Motel and 10 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Khalīfān4.5 km in a straight line
- Ṟuwandiz7.1 km in a straight line
- Soran9.0 km in a straight line
- Ḩarir12 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 10 | 13 | 18 | 24 | 31 | 38 | 42 | 42 | 36 | 28 | 18 | 13 |
| Night °C | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 42 | 38 | 53 | 47 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 39 | 39 |
| Wet days | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Sun h/day | 4.2 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 13.5 | 12.9 | 12.1 | 10.8 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 4.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (566 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 110% | 163% | 166% | 95% | 42% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 179% | 48% |
| 2021 | 76% | 124% | 50% | 18% | 64% | — | — | — | — | 99% | 65% | 132% |
| 2022 | 164% | 99% | 79% | 76% | 83% | — | — | — | — | 33% | 169% | 48% |
| 2023 | 132% | 94% | 188% | 154% | 129% | — | — | — | — | 48% | 116% | 63% |
| 2024 | 188% | 154% | 104% | 104% | 252% | — | — | — | — | 62% | 108% | 63% |
| 2025 | 19% | 102% | 55% | 141% | 155% | — | — | — | — | 13% | 72% | 267% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Geli Eli Beg Waterfall
Iraq
- —Height
- 1.1 m³/sAverage flow
- Jan–AprBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q4115462) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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