The Sozh River is one of the most beautiful rivers in Belarus. Its length is 648 km, of which 155 km flow 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 on the territory of Russia on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland, 12 km south of the city of Smolensk, and then flows through the territory of two Byelorussian regions - Mogilev and Gomel. The catchment is asymmetric and pronounced, which is especially noticeable on the left bank.
The total catchment area is:
• in Russia - 42, 140 km 2;
• in Belarus - 21, 700 km 2.
The water level in the Sozh River reaches 6 meters at a flow velocity that sometimes exceeds 1.5 m / s. As a result, the river carries about 200 cubic meters of water in one minute on a section of the river near Gomel.
For the most part, the relief of the basin is represented by small hills, the height of which does not exceed 20 m. Some sections are separated by deep ravines and gullies. The riverbed is quite winding, which is especially noticeable in Slavgorod, where a rather large bend is observed near the river.
Before Gomel, even sandy islands are found on the river, the length of which does not exceed 300 m, and the width is 50 m. As for the lakes, their catchment area is less than 1%. In fact, these are separate mirror water bodies, the area of which does not exceed 1 km 2.
Water level changes
The rise in water level continues for a crescent in the upper reaches and about a month in the lower reaches. The water level in the Sozh River begins to increase from the end of March. The lowest water height is 4 m, and the highest is 7.5 m. Often, at the end of spring or early summer, the water level can rise by several meters as a result of prolonged heavy rains and floods, the duration of which sometimes exceeds one month.
The winter level increase in the summer is only a few tens of centimeters higher than the summer one and in most cases passes almost imperceptibly.
Sozh begins to freeze at the beginning of winter, and opens only in the middle of spring, and this process begins from the mouth to the upper. The average water temperature in the Sozh River in the summer is 19-28 ° C.
origin of name
This river was the central river for the eastern Slavs Radimichi. The influence of the Sozh River in the history of the Radimichi 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 socio-economic life was the greatest. The Sozh River was an integral 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.
Fishing
All kinds of fish are found in Sozh, however, their number was significantly affected by 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 fish to go to Sozh to spawn.
After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Sozh River ceased to be used for industrial fishing, and the herbage in it is no longer removed. As a result, there is a constant rotting of vegetation, and the content of harmful substances in the water increases significantly, the last spawning sites and places of mass feeding of many fish species are destroyed.
