TheOka (UK:/ˈɒkə/,US:/ˈoʊkə/;Russian:ОкаIPA:[ɐˈka]) is a river in centralRussia, the largest righttributary of theVolga. It flows through the regions ofOryol,Tula,Kaluga,Moscow,Ryazan,Vladimir andNizhny Novgorod and 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 capitalMoscow sits on one of the Oka's tributaries—theMoskva, from which the capital's name is thought to be derived.[6][7]
The Oka river was the homeland of the Eastern SlavicVyatichi tribe.[8] By the 5th century the land around the Oka river was inhabited by different Slavic tribes.[9][better source needed] The Baltic tribe ofGalindians also lived in the western part of the Oka basin.[10] 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.[11][12] There is no consensus opinion where the name Oka originated from.[citation needed] It could, however, becognate withSanskrit ओघogha, meaning 'stream' or 'current'.[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 Moscow and later theTsardom of Russia from theCrimean-Nogai Raids. It was south of the original line along the Oka.
Before the construction of the railways in the mid-19th century and the building of theMoscow Canal in the 1930s, the Oka, along with its tributaryMoskva, served as an important transportation route connectingMoscow with the Volga. Due to the Oka's and Moskva's meandering courses, travel was not particularly fast: for example, it tookCornelis de Bruijn around 10 days to sail from Moscow down these two rivers to Nizhny Novgorod in 1703.[13] Traveling upstream may have been even slower, as the boats had to be pulled byburlaks.[14]
The Oka appears as the title and main theme in a popular, nostalgia-filled military field song written byLeon Pasternak of thePolish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division, which was founded near the river in 1943. The song compares the river to theVistula river inPoland. The unit fought all the way to Berlin in subordination to theRed Army.
^Vasmer, Max (1986–1987) [1950–1958]."Москва". InTrubachyov, O. N.; Larin, B. O. (eds.).Этимологический словарь русского языка [Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch] (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moscow: Progress.
^Smolitskaya, G.P. (2002).Toponimicheskyi slovar' Tsentral'noy RossiiТопонимический словарь Центральной России (in Russian). pp. 211–2017.
