The Severnaya Sosva (, "''Northern Sosva''”; Northern Mansi: Со̄с-я̄, Та̄гт; ''Sōs-jā, Tāgt'') is a river in

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, also known as Khanty-Mansia (Khantia-Mansia), is a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug of Tyumen Oblast). It has a population of 1,532,243 as of the 2010 Census. Its administrative center is lo ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, which drains the northern

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

into the lower Ob. It discharges into the

Malaya Ob Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, a branch of the Ob.Северная Сосьва

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

Geography

The river and its tributaries are basically T-shaped. The Khulga and Lyapin flow south for about parallel to the Urals while the main Northern Sosva flows about northward. The united rivers then flow east southeast about almost to the Ob near Igrim and then flow north about before joining the Ob at Beryozovo. Its headwaters are just east of the headwaters of the

Pechora Pechora (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Pechora (river), Pechora River, west of and near the northern Ural Mountains. The area of the town is . Population: History Pechor ...

on the other side of the Urals and somewhat north of the headwaters of the southeast-flowing

Pelym Pelym () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Pelym, Ivdel, Sverdlovsk Oblast, a work settlement under the administrative jurisdiction of the city of Ivdel, Sverdlovsk Oblast ;Rural localities * Pelym, Perm ...

. The Severnaya Sosva is long, and the area of its basin is . The average discharge of the river is . It is frozen between November and April and floods (mostly

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many part ...

) from May to September. Like many rivers in the

West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain () is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei, Yenisei River in the east, and the Altai Mountains on the southeast. Much of the plain is poorly d ...

, it has an extensive flood plain with marshes and meanders. In spring the area near the Ob often floods. The channel width sometimes approaches and the flood plain . The river is navigable by ships in the lower region. Bassin-fluvial-de-l-Ob

There are two Malaya Sosva rivers. The larger flows north to join the Northern Sosva near Igrim. The other joins the Bolshaya Sosva to form the Northern Sosva.

Trade route

There was some ill-documented Russian trade in the area before the

Russian conquest of Siberia The Russian conquest of Siberia took place during 1581–1778, when the Khanate of Sibir became a loose political structure of vassalages that were being undermined by the activities of Russian explorers. Although outnumbered, the Russians pr ...

. After about 1593 the Northern Sosva was one of the main routes into Siberia (for the others, see

Verkhoturye Verkhoturye () is a historical town and the administrative center of Verkhotursky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located in the middle Ural Mountains on the left bank of the Tura River north of Yekaterinburg. Population: 7,815 ( ...

). The route ran from the Pechora River, up the Shchugor River, over either of two passes and down the Sosva to the Ob and the fur-rich

Mangazeya Mangazeya () was a Northwest Siberian trans- Ural trade colony and later city in the 17th century. Founded in 1600 by Cossacks from Tobolsk, it was situated on the Taz River, between the lower courses of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers flowing int ...

region. By the late 17th century the fur trade declined and most trade shifted south to Verkhoturye and some north to the

Usa The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug

Geography

Trade route

See also

References