Oka (river) in the context of "Tula, Russia"

Nizhny Novgorod (/ˌnɪʒni ˈnɒvɡərɒd/ NIZH-nee NOV-gə-rod; Russian: Нижний Новгород, IPA: [ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət] , lit. 'Lower Newtown') is both a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the Volga Federal District in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Oka and the Volga rivers in Central Russia, with a population of over 1.2 million residents, and roughly 1.7 million residents in the wider urban area. Nizhny Novgorod is the sixth-largest city in Russia, and the second-most populous city on the Volga and Volga Federal District. The city is located 420 kilometers (260 mi) east of Moscow. It is an important economic, architectural, educational and cultural centre in Russia and the Volga-Vyatka Economic Region, and provides the majority of Russia's river tourism.

The city was founded on 4 February 1221 by Prince George II of Vladimir. In 1612, Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky organized an army for the liberation of Moscow from the Poles and Lithuanians. In 1817, Nizhny Novgorod became a great trade centre of the Russian Empire. In 1896, at the trade centre, an All-Russia Exhibition was organized. During the Soviet period, the city turned into an important industrial centre, and was known as Gorky. In particular, the Gorky Automobile Plant was constructed in this period. Around this time, the city was given the nickname "Russian Detroit". Shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union the city was renamed Nizhny Novgorod once again. In 1985, the Nizhny Novgorod Metro was opened. In 2016, Vladimir Putin opened the new 70th Anniversary of Victory Plant, which is part of the Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defence Corporation.

The Dnieper-Oka language (Eastern Peripheral Baltic, Dnieper-Baltic) is one or several extinct Baltic languages, the existence of which is indicated by toponymic data. It occupied the upper reaches of the Daugava, the basins of the upper Dnieper and Desna, the upper and middle Oka and the Seym. Beginning in the 7th and 8th centuries, the Baltic dialects of the region were replaced by Old East Slavic. The only known subdivision of the Dnieper-Oka language is the Golyad language.

The Moskva (Russian: Москва, romanized: Moskva), often called the River Moskva or the Moskva River (Russian: река Москва, Москва-река, romanized: Moskva-reka) is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about 140 km (90 mi) west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About 110 km (70 mi) southeast of Moscow, at the city of Kolomna, it flows into the Oka, itself a tributary of the Volga, which ultimately flows into the Caspian Sea.

The Mokshas (also Mokshans, Moksha people; Moksha: Мокшет/Mokšet) comprise a Mordvinian ethnic group belonging to the Volgaic branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples. They live in Russia, mostly near the Volga and Moksha rivers, a tributary of the Oka River.

Their native language is Mokshan, one of the two surviving members of the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic language family. According to a 1994 Russian census, 49% of the autochthonal Finnic population in Mordovia identified themselves as Mokshas, totaling more than 180,000 people. Most Mokshas belong to the Russian Orthodox Church; other religions practised by Mokshas include Lutheranism and paganism.

Meshchera is an extinct Uralic language. It was spoken around the left bank of the Middle Oka. Meshchera was either a Mordvinic or a Permic language. Pauli Rahkonen has suggested on the basis of toponymic evidence that it was a Permic or closely related language. Rahkonen's speculation has been criticized by Vladimir Napolskikh. Some Meshchera speaking people possibly assimilated into Mishar Tatars (Meshcheryaki). However this theory is disputed.

The first Russian written source which mentions them is the Tolkovaya Paleya, from the 13th century. They are also mentioned in several later Russian chronicles from the period before the 16th century, and even later, in one of the letters by Andrey Kurbsky written in the second half of the 16th century, where he claimed the language spoken in the Meshchera region to be Mordvinic.

The Protva (Russian: Протва) is a river in the Moscow and Kaluga oblasts in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Oka. It is 282 kilometres (175 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 4,620 square kilometres (1,780 sq mi). The area of its basin is 4,620 square kilometres (1,780 sq mi). The Protva freezes up in early December and stays icebound until early April. Its main tributary is the Luzha. The towns of Vereya, Borovsk, Protvino and Obninsk are located on the shores of the Protva.