Oka (river)
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2020) |
| Oka | |
|---|---|
 The Oka riverbank inNizhny Novgorod | |
 Map of the Volga watershed with the Oka highlighted | |
| Native name | Ока(Russian) |
| Location | |
| Country | Russia |
| Cities | Oryol,Kaluga,Serpukhov,Kolomna,Ryazan,Murom,Dzerzhinsk,Nizhny Novgorod |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Oryol Oblast |
| • coordinates | 52°21′45″N36°13′20″E/ 52.36250°N 36.22222°E |
| • elevation | 226 m (741 ft) |
| Mouth | Volga |
• location | Nizhny Novgorod |
• coordinates | 56°19′55″N43°58′53″E/ 56.33194°N 43.98139°E |
• elevation | 67 m (220 ft) |
| Length | 1,500 km (930 mi) |
| Basin size | 245,000 km2(95,000 sq mi) 244,308.3 km2(94,328.0 sq mi)[1] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Nizhny Novgorod(near mouth) |
| • average | 1,260 m3/s (44,000 cu ft/s) 1,327.15 m3/s (46,868 cu ft/s)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Ryazan(Basin size: 97,995.8 km2(37,836.4 sq mi) |
| • average | 585.477 m3/s (20,675.9 cu ft/s)[3] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Kaluga(Basin size: 54,877.8 km2(21,188.4 sq mi) |
| • average | 305.042 m3/s (10,772.5 cu ft/s)[4] |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Volga→Caspian Sea |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Moskva,Klyazma |
| • right | Moksha |
TheOka(Russian:Ока,IPA:[ɐˈka]) is a river in centralRussia,the largest righttributaryof theVolga.It flows through the regions ofOryol,Tula,Kaluga,Moscow,Ryazan,VladimirandNizhny Novgorodand is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as the town ofKaluga.Its length is 1,500 km (930 mi) and its catchment area 245,000 km2(95,000 sq mi).[5]The Russian capitalMoscowsits on one of the Oka's tributaries—theMoskva.
Name and history[edit]
The Oka river was the homeland of the Eastern SlavicVyatichitribe.[6]By the 5th century the land around the Oka river was inhabited by different Slavic tribes.[7][better source needed]The Baltic tribe ofGalindiansalso lived in the western part of the Oka basin.[8]Turkic tribes also inhabited the Oka area. The Oka river was also inhabited by Vikings and other peoples from Scandinavia.[citation needed]Artifacts of Scandinavian origin were found along the Oka - Volga route.[9][10]There is no consensus opinion where the name Oka originated from.[citation needed]
From the Mongol conquest until about 1633, the Oka was the last line of defense against steppe raiders. LaterZasechnaya cherta,a chain of fortification lines, was created to protectGrand Duchy of Moscowand later theTsardom of Russiafrom theCrimean-Nogai Raids.It was south of the original line along the Oka.
The river gave its name to theUpper Oka Principalities,situated upstream fromTarusa.In 1221 Grand DukeYuri II of VladimirfoundedNizhny Novgorod,later to become one of largest Russian cities, to protect the Oka's confluence with the Volga. TheQasim Khanate,a Muslim polity, occupied the middle reaches of the Oka (around the city ofKasimov) in the 15th and 16th centuries.[citation needed]
Before the construction of the railways in the mid-19th century and the building of theMoscow Canalin the 1930s, the Oka, along with its tributaryMoskva,served as an important transportation route connectingMoscowwith the Volga. Due to the Oka's and Moskva's meandering courses, travel was not particularly fast: for example, it tookCornelis de Bruijnaround 10 days to sail from Moscow down these two rivers to Nizhny Novgorod in 1703.[11]Traveling upstream may have been even slower, as the boats had to be pulled byburlaks.[12]
Landmarks[edit]
The banks of the river are dotted with historical and cultural sites, including the medieval monasteries ofMurom,the mosques and minarets ofKasimov,the fortifiedkremlinsofKolomnaandSerpukhov,the memorial houses ofVasily PolenovandSergey Yesenin,the excavated ruins ofOld Ryazanand theOka Shukhov Tower.
ThePrioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reservelies along the left bank of the river opposite the town ofPushchinoand is known for itswisentbreeding nursery.[citation needed]
In culture[edit]
The Oka appears as the title and main theme in a popular, nostalgia-filled military field song written byLeon Pasternakof thePolish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division,which was founded near the river in 1943. The song compares the river to theVistulariver inPoland.The unit fought all the way to Berlin in subordination to theRed Army.
Main tributaries[edit]
The largest tributaries of the Oka are, from source to mouth:[5]
Cities on the Oka[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Rivers Network".2020.
- ^"Rivers Network".2020.
- ^"Rivers Network".2020.
- ^"Rivers Network".2020.
- ^ab«Река Ока»,Russian State Water Registry
- ^Subtelny, Orest (2009-11-10).Ukraine: A History, 4th Edition.University of Toronto Press.ISBN9781442697287.
- ^"History of Russia, the Russian Empire, in ancient times, read | we know everything - Mouzenidis Travel".Mouzenidis Travel.Retrieved2018-11-18.
- ^Tarasov, Илья Тарасов / Ilia (January 2017)."Балты в миграциях Великого переселения народов. Галинды // Исторический формат, № 3-4, 2017. С. 95-124".Балты в миграциях Великого переселения народов. Галинды.
- ^Brink, Stefan; Price, Neil (2008-10-31).The Viking World.Routledge.ISBN9781134318254.
- ^Steinwedel, Charles (2016).Threads of Empire: Loyalty and Tsarist Authority in Bashkiria, 1552-1917.Indiana University Press. p. 13.
- ^Bruin, Cornelis de (1725),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.,vol. 3, J.-B.-C. Bauche le fils, pp. 233–247
- ^Bruin 1725,p. 240
External links[edit]
- OkaatGEOnet Names Server
Media related toOka Riverat Wikimedia Commons
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