View source for Oka (river)

{{ref improve|date=April 2020}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{About-distinguish-text|the river in west central Russia|the [[Oca River]] in Burgos, Spain}}
{{For-multi|the river in Siberia with the same name|Oka (Angara)||Oka (disambiguation){{!}}Oka|and|Oca (disambiguation){{!}}Oca}}
}}
{{short description|River in western Russia}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Oka
| native_name        ={{native name|ru|Ока}}
| name_other         = 
| name_etymology     = 
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = NN 30-06-2022 the Spit of Nizhny Novgorod at sunset 04.jpg
| image_size         = 270
| image_caption      = The Oka riverbank in [[Nizhny Novgorod]]
| map                = Okarivermap.png
| map_size           = 270
| map_caption        = Map of the Volga watershed with the Oka highlighted
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_map_size   = 
| pushpin_map_caption = 
| mapframe          = yes
| mapframe-zoom     = 5
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[Russia]]
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| subdivision_type5  = Cities
| subdivision_name5  = [[Oryol]], [[Kaluga]], [[Serpukhov]], [[Kolomna]], [[Ryazan]], [[Murom]], [[Dzerzhinsk, Russia|Dzerzhinsk]], [[Nizhny Novgorod]]
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{convert|1,500|km|mi|abbr=on}} 
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = 
| discharge1_location=[[Nizhny Novgorod]] (near mouth) 
| discharge1_min     = 
| discharge1_avg     = {{convert|1,260|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
{{convert|1,327.15|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="riversnetwork.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/rbo/index.php/river-blogs/east-europe/itemlist/category/952-oka|title=Rivers Network|year=2020|url-status=dead|access-date=2022-04-10|archive-date=2022-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123074538/https://www.riversnetwork.org/rbo/index.php/river-blogs/east-europe/itemlist/category/952-oka}}</ref>
| discharge1_max     = 

| source1            = 
| source1_location   = [[Oryol Oblast]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|52|21|45|N|36|13|20|E|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation  = {{convert|226|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = [[Volga]]
| mouth_location     = [[Nizhny Novgorod]]
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|56|19|55|N|43|58|53|E|type:_river}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{convert|67|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        = {{RVolga}}
| river_system       = 
| basin_size         = {{convert|245,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}
{{convert|244,308.3|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="riversnetwork.org"/>
| tributaries_left   =[[Moskva River|Moskva]], [[Klyazma River|Klyazma]] 
| tributaries_right  =[[Moksha River|Moksha]] 
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
|discharge2_location=[[Ryazan]] (Basin size: {{convert|97,995.8|km2|abbr=on}}|discharge2_avg={{convert|585.477|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="riversnetwork.org"/>|discharge3_location=[[Kaluga]] (Basin size: {{convert|54,877.8|km2|abbr=on}}|discharge3_avg={{convert|305.042|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="riversnetwork.org"/>
| extra             = 
}}

The '''Oka''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|ɒ|k|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|oʊ|k|ə}}; {{langx|ru|Ока}} {{IPA|ru|ɐˈka|IPA}}) is a river in central [[Russia]], the largest right [[tributary]] of the [[Volga]]. It flows through the regions of [[Oryol Oblast|Oryol]], [[Tula Oblast|Tula]], [[Kaluga Oblast|Kaluga]], [[Moscow Oblast|Moscow]], [[Ryazan Oblast|Ryazan]], [[Vladimir Oblast|Vladimir]] and [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Nizhny Novgorod]] and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as the town of [[Kaluga]]. Its length is {{convert|1500|km|abbr=on}} and its catchment area {{convert|245000|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=gvr>[http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=177924 «Река Ока»], Russian State Water Registry</ref> The Russian capital [[Moscow]] sits on one of the Oka's tributaries&mdash;the [[Moskva (river)|Moskva]], from which the capital's name is thought to be derived.<ref name="Vasmer">{{Vasmer|Москва}}</ref><ref name="Smol">{{cite book |last1=Smolitskaya |first1=G.P. |title=Toponimicheskyi slovar' Tsentral'noy Rossii |date=2002 |pages=211–2017 |language=ru |script-title=ru:Топонимический словарь Центральной России}}</ref>

== Name and history ==
The Oka river was the homeland of the Eastern Slavic [[Vyatichi]] tribe.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktyM07I9HXwC&q=eastern+slavs+volga+homeland&pg=PT36|title=Ukraine: A History, 4th Edition|last=Subtelny|first=Orest|date=2009-11-10|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9781442697287|language=en}}</ref> By the 5th century the land around the Oka river was inhabited by different Slavic tribes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mouzenidis.com/russia/article/history-of-russia|title=History of Russia, the Russian Empire, in ancient times, read {{!}} we know everything - Mouzenidis Travel|work=Mouzenidis Travel|access-date=2018-11-18|language=en}}</ref>{{better source|date=April 2020}} The Baltic tribe of [[Galindians]] also lived in the western part of the Oka basin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tarasov|first=Илья Тарасов / Ilia|title=Балты в миграциях Великого переселения народов. Галинды // Исторический формат, № 3-4, 2017. С. 95-124.|url=https://www.academia.edu/37147068|journal=Балты в миграциях Великого переселения народов. Галинды|date=January 2017 |language=en}}</ref> Turkic tribes also inhabited the Oka area. The Oka river was also inhabited by Vikings and other peoples from Scandinavia.{{cn|date=April 2020}} Artifacts of Scandinavian origin were found along the Oka–Volga route.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUV-AgAAQBAJ&q=along+the+volga+waterway+scandinavian+artefacts&pg=PT892|title=The Viking World|last1=Brink|first1=Stefan|last2=Price|first2=Neil|date=2008-10-31|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134318254|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Threads of Empire: Loyalty and Tsarist Authority in Bashkiria, 1552-1917|last=Steinwedel|first=Charles|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2016|pages=13}}</ref> There is no consensus opinion where the name Oka originated from.{{cn|date=April 2020}} It could, however, be [[cognate]] with [[Sanskrit]] ओघ ''ogha'', meaning 'stream' or 'current'.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

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]] and later the [[Tsardom of Russia]] from the [[Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe|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]], 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.{{cn|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Passage of the Oka, shewing the manner of crossing the Rivers in Russia - Clarke Edward Daniel - 1810.jpg|thumb|left|Crossing the Oka, 1810]]
Before the construction of the railways in the mid-19th century and the building of the [[Moscow Canal]] in the 1930s, the Oka, along with its tributary [[Moskva (river)|Moskva]], served as an important transportation route connecting [[Moscow]] 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.<ref>{{citation
|first=Cornelis de |last=Bruin
|title=Voyage au Levant: c'est-à-dire, dans les principaux endroits de l'Asie Mineure, dans les isles de Chio, Rhodes, Chypre, etc., de même que dans les plus considérables villes d'Egypte, de Syrie, et Terre Sainte.
|volume=3
|publisher=J.-B.-C. Bauche le fils|year= 1725
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ctUWAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA250|pages=233–247}}
</ref> Traveling upstream may have been even slower, as the boats had to be pulled by [[burlaks]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bruin|1725|p=240}}</ref>

== Landmarks ==
The banks of the river are dotted with historical and cultural sites, including the medieval monasteries of [[Murom]], the mosques and minarets of [[Kasimov]], the fortified [[Kremlin (fortification)|kremlin]]s of [[Kolomna]] and [[Serpukhov]], the memorial houses of [[Vasily Polenov]] and [[Sergey Yesenin]], the excavated ruins of [[Old Ryazan]] and the [[Shukhov tower on the Oka River|Oka Shukhov Tower]].

The [[Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve]] lies along the left bank of the river opposite the town of [[Pushchino]] and is known for its [[wisent]] breeding nursery.{{cn|date=May 2014}}

==In culture==
The Oka appears as the title and main theme in a popular, nostalgia-filled military field song written by [[Leon Pasternak]] of the [[Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division]], which was founded near the river in 1943. The song compares the river to the [[Vistula]] river in [[Poland]]. The unit fought all the way to Berlin in subordination to the [[Red Army]].

== Main tributaries ==
[[File:Molitovsky bridge.jpg|thumbnail|left|View to Molitovsky bridge from bank of Oka river. July 2014]]
[[File:RybnoeDistrict 06-13 Konstantinovo Oka River 01.jpg|thumbnail|left|The Oka in Ryazan Oblast, near [[Rybnoye, Ryazan Oblast|Rybnoye]]]]
The largest tributaries of the Oka are, from source to mouth:<ref name=gvr/>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Zusha]] (right)
* [[Upa (river)|Upa]] (right)
* [[Zhizdra (river)|Zhizdra]] (left)
* [[Ugra (Oka)|Ugra]] (left)
* [[Protva]] (left)
* [[Nara (Oka)|Nara]] (left)
* [[Lopasnya]] (left)
* [[Besputa]] (right)
* [[Osyotr]] (right)
* [[Moskva (river)|Moskva]] (left)
* [[Vozha]] (right)
* [[Pronya]] (right)
* [[Para (Russia)|Para]] (right)
* [[Pra (Russia)|Pra]] (left)
* [[Gus (river)|Gus]] (left)
* [[Moksha (river)|Moksha]] (right)
* [[Tyosha]] (right)
* [[Ushna]] (left)
* [[Kishma]] (right)
* [[Klyazma]] (left)
{{div col end}}
{{-}}

== Cities on the Oka ==
{{Location map+|Russia Central Federal District|width=400|float=right|caption=Cities on the Oka
|places=
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.33|long=44.00|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Nizhny Novgorod|position=top}} <!--wow-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.23|long=43.45|mark=Red dot.svg|label=}}<!--Dzerzhinsk-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.13|long=43.06|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Gorbatov-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.97|long=43.06|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Pavlovo-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.55|long=42.20|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Navashino-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.56|long=42.02|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Murom}}<!--Murom-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.93|long=41.40|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Kasimov}}<!--Kasimov-->

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.60|long=39.70|label=Ryazan|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.08|long=38.62|label=Kolomna|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.83|long=37.62|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Paschino-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.88|long=37.22|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Protvino-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.83|long=38.02|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Kashira-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.88|long=38.00|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Stupino-->

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.91|long=37.40|label=Serpukhov |position=top|mark=Red dot.svg}}
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.73|long=37.18|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Tarusa-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.52|long=37.10|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Aleksin-->

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.50|long=36.28|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Kaluga|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.01|long=36.15|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Belyov}}
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.10|long=36.25|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Chekalin-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=52.97|long=36.04|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Oryol}}

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.750 |long=37.6166 |label=MOSCOW |position=top|mark=City locator 16.svg}}
}}
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Oryol]]
* [[Belyov]]
* [[Chekalin]]
* [[Kaluga]]
* [[Aleksin]]
* [[Tarusa]]
* [[Serpukhov]]
* [[Stupino, Stupinsky District, Moscow Oblast|Stupino]]
* [[Kashira]]
* [[Protvino]]
* [[Pushchino]]
* [[Kolomna]]
* [[Ryazan]]
* [[Kasimov]]
* [[Murom]]
* [[Pavlovo, Pavlovsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Pavlovo]]
* [[Navashino]]
* [[Gorbatov (town)|Gorbatov]]
* [[Dzerzhinsk, Russia|Dzerzhinsk]]
* [[Nizhny Novgorod]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{GEOnet2|32FA878A66E33774E0440003BA962ED3|Oka}}
* {{commonscat-inline|Oka River}}

{{Volga River}}
{{Rivers of Russia}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Rivers of Kaluga Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Moscow Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Oryol Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Ryazan Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Tula Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Vladimir Oblast]]