River
Sozh
648 km from source to mouth · Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Belarus, Russia and UkraineFlows into Dnieper2nd longest in Belarus
In numbers
Length
648km
Average flow
210m³/s
Basin
42,100km²
Drop
61m
from 168 m to 107 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
648 km of river and 17 stops on the way: 10 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmRussiaat 168 m
- 115 kmDubrowna6,945 people
- 139 kmKobelyakskiye Porogi
- 144 kmOrsha101,662 people
- 186 kmShklov14,738 people
- 242 kmMahilyow352,896 people
- 246 kmSviatoje Lake, Mahilioŭ0.5 km²
- 249 kmBuynichy4,000 people
- 296 kmBykhov16,296 people
- 394 kmRahachow31,490 people
- 426 kmZhlobin76,304 people
- 437 kmAsušnoje0.5 km²
- 507 kmOzero Vir (korvsjö)0.4 km²
- 528 kmRechytsa64,733 people
- 556 kmVialikaje0.4 km²
- 614 kmAtkylniatributary
- 615 kmNiamyĺniatributary
- 628 kmLoyev6,028 people
- 648 kmDnieperat 107 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine
At the mouth it carries 207 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 12 seconds. It drops from 168 m to 107 m, 0.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 42,100 km², about the size of NL. 4.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from April to June; lowest: from January to March. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- MahilyowLargest city on its banks · 352,896 people
- Mogilev Airport (MVQ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 17 km from the city
- On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to AugustThe best months to visit
Sozh, month by month
Highest water: from April to June
Lowest water: from January to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to February. Best months to visit: from May to August.
From about 230 m³/s in the lowest month to 570 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Sozh: the basin in numbers
59,390 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 4.4millionpeople live in the basin
- 74/km²people per km²
- 184maverage altitude of the basin
- 629mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 5.6°Caverage air temperature
- 3%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 42% Forest
- 29% Cropland
- 12% Pasture
- 2% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Sozh: what you find on the way
- 4Weirs
- 3Waterfalls
- 1Boat ramps
- 2Ferry piers
- 3Marinas
- 6River beaches
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Sozh in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
4lakes on its wayLakeyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Kobelyakskiye Porogikm 125
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (4)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Sviatoje Lake, Mahilioŭkm 2220.5km²
- Asušnojekm 3940.5km²
- Ozero Vir (korvsjö)km 4570.4km²
- Vialikajekm 5020.4km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Sozh in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
DnieperUkraine2,285 km1,700 m³/sTributaries (57)
Also: Pronia, Vikhra, Uts, Čačora, Teryukha, Uza, Volčas, Kosolyanka, Pokot, Senna, Čornaja Natapa, Kormyanka, Khmara, Sponka, Lobzhanka, Molotovnya, Klyapinka, Lobchanka, Lipa, Niamyĺnia, Aŭsovina, Haluba, Hamiajuk, Gorna
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q784682) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit