The Sozh River is one of the most beautiful rivers in Belarus
The Sozh River is one of the most beautiful rivers in Belarus. Its length is 648 km, of which 155 km flows through the territory of Russia. It is the second largest tributary of the Dnieper after the river. Pripyat. The width of its channel in the lower reaches is 230 m.
Basic data
The Sozh River originates in the territory of Russiaon the Smolensk-Moscow Upland 12 km south of the city of Smolensk, and then flows through the territory of two Belarusian regions - Mogilev and Gomel. The watershed is asymmetric and clearly defined, which is especially noticeable along the left bank.
The total catchment area is:
• in Russia - 42,140 km2 ;
• in Belarus - 21,700 km2.
Water level in the river Sozh reaches 6 meters at a current speed that sometimes exceeds 1.5 m / s. As a result, on the river section near Gomel, the river carries about 200 cubic meters of water for one minute.
For the most part, the relief of the basin is represented bysmall hills, whose height does not exceed 20 m. Individual sections are separated by deep ravines and beams. The river bed is quite meandering, which is especially noticeable in Slavgorod, where a rather large bend is observed near the river.
Before Gomel on the river there are even sandyislands, whose length does not exceed 300 m, and width - 50 m. As for the lakes, their area on the catchment area is less than 1%. As a matter of fact these are separate mirror water reservoirs, the area of which does not exceed 1 km2.
Water level changes
The rising of the water level continues fora crescent in the upper course and about a month in the lower reaches. The level of water in the Sozh River has been increasing since the end of March. At the same time, the smallest water height is 4 m, and the largest - 7.5 m. Often at the end of spring or early summer, the water level may rise by several meters as a result of prolonged downpours and floods, the duration of which sometimes exceeds one month.
The winter level increase in the shed is only a few tens of centimeters above the summer one and in most cases passes almost imperceptibly.
The Sozh begins to freeze at the beginning of winter, but opens only in the middle of spring, and this process starts from the mouth to the top. The average temperature of the water in the Sozh River in summer is 19-28 ° C.
origin of name
This river was the central river for the easternSlavs of the Radimich. The influence of the Sozh River in the history of the Radimich land should be viewed through the prism of factors: the role of the Sozh in the socio-economic, political and spiritual life of people. Of course, the role of Sozh in social and economic life was greatest. The Sozh River was a constituent part of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks". On the banks of the river and its tributaries the Slavs founded their rural settlements and cities. Sozh was one of the main factors that influenced the emergence of Gomel.
Fisheries
In Soja all kinds of fish are found, but herthe amount has significantly suffered from an increase in the level of poaching and weather conditions, because as a result of a large number of floods, it is sometimes difficult for a fish to enter the Sozh to spawn.
After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Sozh Riverhas ceased to be used for commercial fishing, and the grass in it is no longer removed. As a result, there is a constant rotting of vegetation, and in the water the content of harmful substances is significantly increased, the last spawning areas and places of mass feeding of many species of fish are destroyed.
Interesting Facts
Broad sandy bands stretch along the coastalsites along the entire length of the river. The bottom in the immediate vicinity of the shore is shallow and sandy, so that adults and children can bathe in the river. In the area of the town of Loev Sozh, it flows into the Dnieper, through which the largest waterway from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, known since ancient times, ran from "the Varangians to the Greeks".
