The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, 196 km (122 mi) southeast of Moscow.

The capital was subsequently moved to Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky (Russian: Переяславль-Рязанский), and later renamed to Ryazan by order of Catherine the Great in 1778.

[citation needed] In the 12th century, the lands of Ryazan – being located on the border between woodlands and the steppe – suffered numerous invasions from the southern and northern parts of European Russia.

As a result of the takeover, the seat of the principality was moved about 55 km (34 mi) to the town of Pereslavl-Ryazansky, which subsequently took the name of the destroyed capital.

The principality's last duke, Ivan V of Ryazan, was imprisoned for a short time for being suspected in a treasonous attempt to seal a treaty with Crimean Khanate in order to outweigh Moscow's influence.

[15][16] Being the southernmost border of Rus' lands at the time, Ryazan continued to suffer from invasions of Crimean Tatars and their allies.

[17][18] He was notorious for becoming the first church official to recognize a Poland-backed impostor False-Dmitry as a legitimate monarch, alleged Czar of Tsardom of Russia, after meeting with his forces in Tula.

[20][21] Immediately after the war, rapid development of the city began, and it became a major industrial, scientific, and military center of the European part of Russia.

Chumakova oversaw the construction of social and cultural amenities, more than 20 urban areas, and hundreds of kilometers of trolleybus, tram and bus routes.

During her 26 years in office, Chumakova often accepted awards of the Red Banner of the USSR on behalf of Ryazan.

By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, more than half of the city's GDP was being exported into its satellite states.

In the 1990s, Ryazan experienced significant economic troubles as part of the 1998 Russian financial crisis, with many ex-Soviet and newly established companies going bankrupt by the end of the decade.

[26] A number of environmental groups are active in the city, campaigning for the removal of illegal landfills and volunteering for water area clean up.

This activity attracted the attention of the government, who promise to build several similar paths passing through the whole territory of Ryazan.

In addition, the city is home to a number of religious people, including Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons, Charismatics and Muhtasibat Muslims, who built the Islamic Cultural Center.

[29] Excessive emissions of toxic fumes and gaseous substances such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) from neighbouring industries (i.e. oil refinery) located next to the city are often reported by local media.

[39] In 1991, the gang became heavily involved in the racketeering of newly-privatized industries, motor vehicle sales, real estate, contract killings in other regions, participated in gang violence, kidnappings, and committed at least one armed attack on rivals which left eight or ten dead in November of 1993.

[43] One member of the group allegedly committed suicide in a detention center of Tolyatti in 2016 and another in Ryazan according to Russian sources.

[44] In the same period, evidence was gathered against the former (4th) mayor and chairman of city duma, Fyodor Provotorov [ru].

Provotorova held powerful positions in the city for eight years, and, according to local authorities, was associated with the activities of the Slony gang.

In 1999 a group of allegedly plain-clothes FSB officers attempted to blow up a building on the East side of the city.

[46][47] Today, the crime rate in Ryazan is one of the lowest among the cities of the Central Federal District according to the Russian Interior Ministry.

[48] The plant can refine 17 million metric tons of oil per year[38] and is the city's largest employer.

The most notable company in this sector is Plazma, which produces plasma screens for products including tanks and locomotives.

[37] In 2012 Russian search giant Yandex launched the 40MW data center in Sasovo; it is expected to accommodate 100,000 servers by 2019.