Ryazan

Ryazan, oblast (region), western Russia. It occupies the middle Oka River basin and extends southward across the northern end of the Central Russian Upland and Oka-Don Plain to the upper Don River basin. North of the Oka is the Meshchera Lowland, with extensive swamps of reed and grass marsh and mixed forest of oak, spruce, pine, and birch. Considerable swamp reclamation has taken place since the 1870s, but the area is still thinly populated. South...