The Uzh ( uk, Уж; translit. ''Uzh''; sk, Uh; hu, Ung, pl, Uż) is a river in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. Its name comes from the ancient west Slavic dialect word ''už'', meaning "Snake", (lat. "Serpentes"). The Uzh is a tributary of the Laborets River, a river that flows in the Tysa Lowland in

Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...

of western Ukraine. The river feeds numerous industries and is a source of drinking water and irrigation. It also has a

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

station on it. Several important cities lie along its course, including

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the B ...

. It is long, of which are in Slovakia. It flows into the

Laborec The Laborec ( ukr, Лаборець; hu, Laborc) is a river in eastern Slovakia that flows through the districts of Medzilaborce, Humenné, and Michalovce in the Košice Region, and the Prešov Region. The river drains the Laborec Highlands. ...

river near the city of

Drahňov Drahňov ( hu, Deregnyő) is a village and municipality in Michalovce District in the Kosice Region of eastern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1315. Geography The village lies at an altitude of 110 m ...

in the

Michalovce District Michalovce District (''okres Michalovce'') is a district in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Euro ...

( okres). The Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod and the semi-ruined Nevitske Castle are situated by the Uzh. The river forms part of the Slovakia–Ukraine border for about near the village of

Pinkovce Pinkovce ( hu, Ungpinkóc) is a small village and municipality in the Sobrance District in the Košice Region of east Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1343. Geography The village lies at an altitude of 1 ...

Regions

The Uzh is located in the Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine and in the districts of

Michalovce Michalovce (; hu, Nagymihály, german: Großmichel, Romani language, Romani: ''Mihalya'', Yiddish language, Yiddish: ''Mikhaylovets'' or ''Mykhaylovyts''; uk, Михайлівці) is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia. Originally ...

and

Sobrance Sobrance (german: Sobranz, hu, Szobránc) is a town in Košice Region, Slovakia, around from Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and east of Michalovce. Located in the Eastern Slovak Lowland not far from the Vihorlat Mountains, it is the easternmost town in Slo ...

in eastern Slovakia. Frozen Uzh Nevitske

Geography

The largest tributaries are, Right: , Strychavka, Ulychka, Ubľa, Kamyanitsa, Dvernitsky, Domaarach, Volshava, Syry Potyk, Hachnyk. Left: Unnamed, , , Tur'ya, . The meander is winding, moderately branched. There are low waterfalls and many islands.

Etymology

Etymologists disagree about the origin of the name of the river. Some would derive it from the Slavic name of the

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recogniz ...

(Ukrainian and Belarusian вуж, Russian уж, from

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

ꙋжь,

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the Attested language, unattested, linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately ...

ǫžь), which is abundant in the valley of the river. However, the expected cognate form in Slovak would be *Už (compare Slovak užovka "adder") while the actual Slovak form of the name is ''Uh''. Another possibility is that the name derives from a

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

root meaning "angle" or "corner" (the etymological source of Ukrainian вугол, Slovak uhol).

References

Rivers of Slovakia Rivers of Zakarpattia Oblast International rivers of Europe Slovakia–Ukraine border {{Slovakia-river-stub