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The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central
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-ei ...
, the largest right
tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
. It flows through the regions of Oryol,
Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains * Tula Point India * Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the ...
, Kaluga,
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, Ryazan, Vladimir and
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as the town of Kaluga. Its length is and its catchment area is .«Река Ока»
Russian State Water Registry
The Russian capital
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
sits on one of the Oka's tributaries—the Moskva.


Name and history

The Oka river was the homeland of the Eastern Slavic Vyatichi tribe. By the 5th century the land around the Oka river was inhabited by different Slavic tribes. The Baltic tribe of Galindians also lived in the western part of the Oka basin. Turkic tribes also inhabited the Oka area. The Oka river was also inhabited by Vikings and other peoples from Scandinavia. Artifacts of Scandinavian origin were found along the Oka - Volga route. There is no consensus opinion where the name Oka originated from. From the Mongol conquest until about 1633, the Oka was the last line of defense against steppe raiders. Later Zasechnaya cherta, a chain of fortification lines, was created to protect
Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
and later the
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
from the Crimean-Nogai Raids. It was south of the original line along the Oka. The river gave its name to the Upper Oka Principalities, situated upstream from Tarusa. In 1221 Grand Duke Yuri II of Vladimir founded
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
, later to become one of largest Russian cities, to protect the Oka's confluence with the Volga. The Qasim Khanate, a Muslim polity, occupied the middle reaches of the Oka (around the city of Kasimov) in the 15th and 16th centuries. Before the construction of the railways in the mid-19th century and the building of the
Moscow Canal The Moscow Canal (russian: Кана́л и́мени Москвы́), named the Moskva–Volga Canal until 1947, is a canal in Russia that connects the Moskva River with the Volga River. It is located in Moscow itself and in the Mosc ...
in the 1930s, the Oka, along with its tributary Moskva, served as an important transportation route connecting
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
with the Volga. Due to the Oka's and Moskva's meandering courses, travel was not particularly fast: for example, it took Cornelis de Bruijn around 10 days to sail from Moscow down these two rivers to Nizhny Novgorod in 1703. Traveling upstream may have been even slower, as the boats had to be pulled by burlaks.


Landmarks

The banks of the river are dotted with historical and cultural sites, including the medieval monasteries of
Murom Murom ( rus, Муром, p=ˈmurəm; Old Norse: ''Moramar'') is a historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of the Oka River. Population: History In the 9th century A ...
, the mosques and minarets of Kasimov, the fortified kremlins of Kolomna and
Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow—Tul ...
, the memorial houses of
Vasily Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (Russian: Васи́лий Дми́триевич Поле́нов; 1 June 1844 – 18 July 1927) was a Russian landscape painter associated with the Peredvizhniki movement of realist artists. His contemporaries would c ...
and Sergey Yesenin, the excavated ruins of Old Ryazan and the Oka Shukhov Tower. The
Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Biosphere Reserve (russian: Приокско-Террасный государственный природный биосферный заповедник ''Priokska-Tyerrasnyy gosudarstvyennyy prirodnyy biasfyernyy zapav ...
lies along the left bank of the river opposite the town of Pushchino and is known for its wisent breeding nursery.


Main tributaries

The largest tributaries of the Oka are, from source to mouth: *
Zusha The Zusha (russian: Зуша) is a river in Tula and Oryol Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Oka. The length of the river is 234 km. The area of its basin is 6,950 km².Upa (right) * Zhizdra (left) * Ugra (left) *
Protva The Protva () is a river in Moscow and Kaluga Oblasts in Russia, left tributary of the Oka. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .
(left) *
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
(left) * Lopasnya (left) *
Besputa The Besputa (russian: Беспута) is a small river in the Moscow and Tula Oblasts, Russia. It is a right tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tr ...
(right) *
Osyotr The Osyotr (russian: Осётр) is a river in Tula and Moscow Oblasts in Russia, a right tributary of the Oka.Осётр
...
(right) * Moskva (left) * Vozha (right) * Pronya (right) *
Para Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...
(right) * Pra (left) * Gus (left) *
Moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriologic ...
(right) * Tyosha (right) * Ushna (left) * Kishma (right) *
Klyazma The Klyazma (, ''Klyaz'ma''), a river in the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, forms a left tributary of the Oka.Oryol * Belyov * Chekalin * Kaluga * Aleksin * Tarusa *
Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow—Tul ...
* Stupino * Kashira * Protvino * Pushchino * Kolomna * Ryazan * Kasimov *
Murom Murom ( rus, Муром, p=ˈmurəm; Old Norse: ''Moramar'') is a historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of the Oka River. Population: History In the 9th century A ...
*
Pavlovo Pavlovo (russian: Павлово) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Arkhangelsk Oblast As of 2010, one rural locality in Arkhangelsk Oblast bears this name: * Pavlovo, Arkhangelsk Oblast, a village under the administrative j ...
* Navashino * Gorbatov * Dzerzhinsk *
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...


In culture

The Oka appears as the title and main theme in a popular, nostalgia filled song (in which it is compared to the
Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
river in Poland) of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division which was formed nearby in 1943. The unit fought all the way to Berlin alongside the Red Army. It was written by
Leon Pasternak Leon Pasternak (1910-1969) was a Polish poet and satirist. His Jewish family came to Poland in the 1880s from the town of Tula, Russia, which was outside the Jewish Pale of Settlement, where Jews usually were not allowed to reside. Pasternak was ...
.


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Rivers of Kaluga Oblast Rivers of Moscow Oblast Rivers of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Rivers of Oryol Oblast Rivers of Ryazan Oblast Rivers of Tula Oblast Rivers of Vladimir Oblast