The name “Kura” is likely related to the Megrelian word “kur,” which means “water, river.” The Georgian name for the river, “Mtkvari” (in Old Georgian – “Mtkuari”), either comes from the Georgian phrase meaning “good water” or is derived from the Megrelian word “tkvar-ua,” meaning “to gnaw” (the river ‘gnaws’ its way through the mountains).
The Kura River originates in northeastern Turkey, in a small gorge of the Kars Plateau in the Lesser Caucasus. Initially flowing west, and then north and east, it crosses the border into Georgia. Here, the Kura flows through a canyon near Akhaltsikhe, past Gori, Mtskheta, and along the western side of Tbilisi. After passing Rustavi, the river crosses the border into Azerbaijan, where it empties into the Caspian Sea near Neftchala.