The Zarqa River (Arabic: نهر الزرقاء‎, Nahr az-Zarqāʾ, lit. "the River of the Blue [City]") is the second largest tributary of the lower Jordan River, after the Yarmouk River. It is the third largest river in the region by annual discharge, and its watershed encompasses the most densely populated areas east of the Jordan River. It rises in springs near Amman, and flows through a deep and broad valley into the Jordan, at an elevation 1,090 metres (3,580 ft) lower.