Wadi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the town in Karnataka, India, see Wadi (Gulbarga).
- For the town in Maharashtra, India, see Wadi (Maharashtra).
- For the Australian Aboriginal war club, see Waddy.
A wadi (Arabic: وادي wādī) is a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain. In some instances, a Wadi is also a rare breed of the bird family. Compare arroyo (creek), canyon, and gully.
The term wādī is very widely found in Arabic toponyms. Wadis tend to be associated with centers of human population because sub-surface water is sometimes available in wadis.
Crossing wide wadis at certain times of the year can be dangerous, because of unexpected flash floods. Such flash floods cause many deaths each year in Saudi Arabia and many other Middle Eastern countries.
In North Africa the French transcription oued is often used, although it is also employed to refer to true rivers. In southwestern West Africa, the term rivière is used, which is the French word for "river".
Some names of Spanish rivers are derived from Andalusi Arabic toponyms where wādī was used to mean a permanent river, for example Guadalquivir from al-wādī al-kabīr = "the great river".
[edit] List of Wadis
- Wādī al-Ḥaǧārah (Guadalajara), Spain
- Wadi Alei
- Wadi Alfa
- Wadi Allaqi, Aswan, Egypt
- Wadi Allaqi, Sudan
- Wadi Al'Mujib, Jordan
- Wadi abu-Hasah
- Wadi Alaui in Al Bahr a Ahmar
- Wadi Alku, Darfur, Sudan
- Wadi Arabah
- Wadi ash Sharqiyah, Sudan
- Wadi ash Shuqayq in Sudan
- Wadi Al-Joz or Nachal Kidron, cutting through Jerusalem).
- Wadi ad-Dawasir, Saudi Arabia
- Wadi Digla
- Wadi El Assuti
- Wadi Elei
- Wadi Fatimah, Saudi Arabia
- Wadi al Fuhaymi (Iraq) [1]
- Wadi el-Gaab
- Wadi Hadhramaut
- Wadi Hanifa, Saudi Arabia
- Wadi Kufra, Libya
- Wadi Matruh
- Wadi Qumran
- Wadi ar-Rabsia
- Wadi El Rayan
- Wadi Rum, Jordan
- Wadi ar-Rummah, Saudi Arabia
- Wadi Safra
- Wadi Bani Khalid
- Wadi Shab and Wadi Tiwi
- Wadi Al Abyadh
- Wadi Dhaiqah
