IRAQ

IRAQ / العراق

Hydroelectric Dam in the Taksim Tharthar-Euphrates Canal.
Official stamp issued in 08.1978.
Face value: 5 Iraqi fils.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogs
- Michel No. D364.
- Scott No. O332.
- Stanley Gibbons No. O1338.
- Yvert et Tellier No. S286.

The Tharthar or Altharthar, known in Iraq as Buhayrat ath-Tharthar (Arabic: بحيرة الثرثار), is an artificial lake opened in 1956, situated northwest of Saladin Governorate and south of the city of Samarra, about 90 km (56 mi) northwest of Baghdad, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. The lake has an artificial outlet built in 1956 called Taksim Tharthar Canal, which drains to the Euphrates River directly. The canal, after 28 km (17.4 mi) from its outlet, forks to another canal that returns water back to the Tigris River. The dam, with six gates, built in 1976, serves to regulate the outflow of water from the lake and, at the same time, to produce electricity.