Oka River

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This page is for a river in western Russia. For other places with the same name, see Oka.

Oka River
Image:NizNov2.jpg Oka confluence with the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod
Mouth	Volga River
Basin countries	Russia
Length	1,500 km (932 mi)
Avg. discharge	1,300 m³/s
Basin area	245,000 km²

Image:Okarivermap.png

Oka (Russian: Ока́) is a large river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the Oblasts of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod. Its length exceeds 1500 km (932 miles).

The name of the river originates in Finno-Ugric languages spoken in the area before the Slavic expansion, probably Meshcheran language, meaning "river" (compare Finnish joki). Historically, the river gave its name to the Upper Oka Principalities, situated upstream from Tarusa. One of the largest Russian cities, Nizhny Novgorod, was founded to protect the Oka's confluence with the Volga. The Russian capital Moscow sits on one of the Oka's tributaries – the Moskva River.