The Osum is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

in southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

, one of the source rivers of the Seman. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Its source is in the southwestern part of the

Korçë County Korçë County ( sq, Qarku Korçë, italic=unset), officially the County of Korçë ( sq, Qarku i Korçës, italic=unset), is a county in the Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the seventh most populous of ...

, near the village

Vithkuq Vithkuq is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Korçë. The population at the 2011 census was 1,519. The municipal unit c ...

at an altitude of . It flows initially south to the Kolonjë municipality, then west to

Çepan Çepan is a village and a former municipality in Berat County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Skrapar Skrapar ( sq-definite, Skrapari) is a municipality in Berat County, southern Al ...

, and northwest through

Çorovodë Çorovodë ( sq-definite, Çorovoda) is a town and a former municipality in Berat County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Skrapar. The population at the 2011 census was 4,051.< ...

where it flows through the famous

Osum Canyon The Osum Gorge () is a river gorge in southern Albania, near the town of Çorovodë. The river Osum, which passes through the town of Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County ...

Poliçan Poliçan ''( sq-definite, Poliçani)'' is a city and a municipality situated in south-central Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Poliçan, Tërpan and Vërtop, that became municipa ...

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in ...

and

Urë Vajgurore Ura Vajgurore, formerly known as Ura e Hasan Beut, is a town and a former municipality in Berat County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it was merged with the former municipalities (now municipal units) Cukalat, Kutalli and ...

. It joins the Devoll near

Kuçovë Kuçovë ( sq-definite, Kuçova) is a municipality in south-central Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Kozare, Kuçovë, Lumas and Perondi, which all became municipal units. The se ...

, to form the Seman. The discharge of the river is reported to vary between /s and /s.

Name

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, the Osum river was known as the ''Apsus'', which is a derivative of the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...

root ''*ăp-'' "water, river". The contemporary Albanian name ''Osum'' ( definite form: ''Osumi''), which is used to indicate the upper course of the river, evolved from ''*Apsōn(em)'' through Bulgarian phonetic changes. In Bulgaria there is a river with the same name origin -

Osam The Osam ( bg, Осъм ) is a river in northern Bulgaria. Its drainage basin is in between that of the river Vit to the west and the Yantra system to the east. Поречието на р. Осъм The river has two main tributaries in its upper ...

. Also the contemporary Albanian name '' Seman/Semen'' (definite form: ''Semani/Semeni''), which is used to indicate the lower course of the river, evolved from ''*Apson-'', but through Albanian phonetic changes.

References

Rivers of Albania Geography of Berat County Geography of Korçë County Braided rivers in Albania {{Albania-river-stub

Name

See also

References