The Sunzha ( rus, Су́нжа, p=ˈsunʐə, inh, Шолжа, Sholʒə, ce, Соьлжа, Sölƶa, p=sɥølʒə) is a river in North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, a tributary of the Terek. It flows northeast inside the great northwest bend of the Terek River and catches most of the rivers that flow north from the mountains before they reach the Terek. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The Sunzha rises on the Northern slope of the Caucasus Major. Its major tributaries are the Assa and Argun. With a

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids ...

of , it carries 12.2 million tons of

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...

per year. It is used for irrigation. Cities that lie on the Sunzha include Nazran, Karabulak,

Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...

(the capital of Chechnya), and

Gudermes Gudermes (russian: Гудерме́с; ce, Гуьмсе, ''Gümse'' or , ''Guthermajas'') is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population: 32,000 (1970). History Gud ...

. During the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second Chechen War The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 ...

s, the destruction of petroleum reservoirs caused the Sunzha to become polluted with petroleum.

Nomenclature

The origin of the name of the river is disputed. The most probable of versions name Sunzha has come from Mongol-Turkic languages in the deformed type. It is known that Mongols called it Suinchie, Russians Sevenz and in the Chechen language its name got corrective type Solchzha. There is also other version that before Sunzha Chechens called the river Okhi «Oh'-hi, Оhhи» that means «downwards the river».

References

{{Reflist Rivers of North Ossetia–Alania Rivers of Ingushetia Rivers of Chechnya

Nomenclature

See also

References