![Terek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Terek.png)
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».
See also
*
Valerik (river)
Valerik (russian: Валери́к, ce, Валарта/Valargthe) is a little river in Chechnya, a tributary of the Sunzha. The river's lower stream becomes dry in summer. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .
Etymology
The name of the riv ...
– historically notable tributary of Sunzha
References
{{Reflist
Rivers of North Ossetia–Alania
Rivers of Ingushetia
Rivers of Chechnya