Wadi

For the town in India, see Wadi (Gulbarga).

A wadi (Arabic وادي wādī) is a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain. Compare arroyo (creek).

The term "Wadi" is very widely found in Arabic place names. Wadis tend to be associated with centers of human population because of the availability of sub-surface water.

Crossing wide wadis at certain times of the year can be very dangerous, because of unexpected flash floods. Such flash floods cause numerous deaths each year in Saudi Arabia and many other Middle Eastern countries.

The North African equivalent term is oued, although it is also used to refer to true rivers.

Some names of Spanish rivers are derived from Arabic names where "wadi" was used to mean a permanent river, for example Guadalquivir from (al) wādī al kabīr = "the big river".

List of Wadis

Wādī al-Ḥaǧārah (Guadalajara), Spain
Wadi Alei
Wadi Alfa
Wadi Allaqi, Aswan, Egypt
Wadi Allaqi, Sudan
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 Digla
Wadi El Assuti
Wadi Elei
Wadi el-Gaab
Wadi Hadhramaut
Wadi Kufra, Libya
Wadi Matruh
Wadi Qumran
Wadi ar-Rabsia
Wadi El Rayan
Wadi Rum, Jordan
Wadi Safra
Wadi Bani Khalid
Wadi Shab and Wadi Tiwi
Wadi Al Abyadh
Wadi Dhaiqah

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