Oka
Oka is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 54.54°, 39.99°
About Oka
The Oka (UK: , US: ; Russian: Ока IPA: [ɐˈka]) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as the town of Kaluga. Its length is 1,500 km (930 mi) and its catchment area 245,000 km2 (95,000 sq mi). The Russian capital Moscow sits on one of the Oka's tributaries—the Moskva, from which the capital's name is thought to be derived.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Oka (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Oka in Depth
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. It could, however, be cognate with Sanskrit ओघ ogha, meaning 'stream' or 'current'.
From the Mongol conquest until about 1633, the Oka was the last line of defense against steppe raiders.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Oka (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Oka: Key Facts
| Length | 1,500 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 1,258 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 245,000 km² |
| Mouth | Volga |
| Drainage system | Volga Basin |
| Tributaries | Ugra, Zhizdra, Protva, Nara, Moskva River, Pra, Klyazma, Upa |
Facts from Wikidata Q172089 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Oka: Quick Answers
- Where is Oka?
- Oka is located in Russia, at 54.5366° N, 39.9919° E.
- Are there dams on the Oka?
- No dam on the Oka is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.