RYAZAN, a province of the Russian S.F.S.R., surrounded by those of Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhegorod, Penza, Tambov and Tula, and not coinciding with the pre-1917 province of the same name. Area. 39,967 sq.km. Pop. (1926) 2,429,117, mainly Great Russians, with some Tatars, Poles and Jews in the towns. The province is drained by the Oka and its tributaries, the Pronya and Pra, and small lakes are numerous in the wide depression of the Oka. Forests cover about a fifth of the area, conifers, especially pines, prevailing in the more forested north, and deciduous forest with birch, ash and oak appearing in scattered patches in the south. North of the Oka is grey forest soil of little value for agriculture, but south of that river the fertile black earth of the steppe begins. The climate is extreme, average February tern perature 3.2° F, July 67° F, rainfall 16 to 18 in. per annum. Industries.—The province is essentially agricultural, except for a coal mining belt extending along the railway west from Ryazhsk. Dairying is not much developed, as the land is not suitable for pasture, but grain growing gives a good guarantee for the peasant and the villages are large, averaging 534 inhabitants.
There are some collective agricultural artels. The chief crops are
rye (5o%), oats (19%), millet (11.2%) and potatoes (ro%). Buckwheat, grass, hemp and sunflower seed are sown. Orchard fruits, especially apples, and cucumbers, cabbages, onions and other vegetables are cultivated in the valley of the Oka. Sheep, working and milch cattle, horses, pigs and a few goats are bred. Koustar (peasant) textile industries are widespread, as is the making of leather and felt footwear, and the district was once famous for its lace making and leather embroidery. The northern region has small industries of this type, including the making of wooden vessels, sledges and boats, the preparation of pitch and tar and basketwork from the reeds in the marshy northern areas which occupy 6% of the province. The electric plant of Ryazan works on peat fuel from these bog areas, and also on the local coal. Marshy areas near the Oka river have been successfully drained and are now pasture lands.
There is a comparatively good railway net and 57% of the rivers are available for steam navigation; a good deal of transit trade goes on throughout the province.