Severnaya Sosva
Severnaya Sosva, meaning Northern Sosva, is a river in Russia’s Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. It drains the northern Ural Mountains and flows into the Malaya Ob, a branch of the Ob River. The river is about 754 kilometers long and its drainage basin covers around 98,300 square kilometers. Its average flow is about 860 cubic meters per second.
The river has a roughly T-shaped system with several tributaries: on the left are Lyapin and Vogulka; on the right are Malaya Sosva and Tapsuy. The Khulga and Lyapin flow south along the Urals for about 201 kilometers, while the main Northern Sosva runs north for about 201 kilometers. The streams then turn east-southeast for about 160 kilometers toward the Ob near Igrim, and then bend north for about 80 kilometers to meet the Ob at Berezovo. The headwaters lie near the Pechora’s headwaters, just east of the Urals.
Severnaya Sosva freezes from November to April and mainly floods in spring and early summer due to snowmelt. It has a wide floodplain with marshes and many bends, and the lower river is navigable by ships. There are two rivers named Malaya Sosva that feed it: the larger one flows north to join the Northern Sosva near Igrim, while the other joins the Bolshaya Sosva to form the Northern Sosva.
Historically, Russians used the Northern Sosva as a route into Siberia for fur trading starting around 1593, but by the late 17th century the trade shifted to other routes.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:48 (CET).