Federal subjects of Russia

The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (Russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (Russian: субъекты федерации subyekty federatsii), are the constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political divisions according to the Constitution of Russia.[1] Since March 18, 2014, the Russian Federation constitutionally has consisted of 85 federal subjects,[2] of which two are located on the Crimean Peninsula, which is not recognized internationally as part of Russia.

This article is about the federal constituent units. For the grouping of regions by a Presidential Decree, see Federal districts of Russia.

Federal Subject
Субъекты федерации  (Russian)
CategoryFederal dominant-party semi-presidential constitutional republic
LocationRussia
Number85
Populations41,546 (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) – 10,382,754 (Moscow)
Areas864 km2 (334 sq mi) (Sevastopol) – 3,103,200 km2 (1,198,200 sq mi) (Sakha Republic)
GovernmentRegional Government, National Government
SubdivisionsDistrict
Russia
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According to the Russian Constitution, the Russian Federation consists of republics, krais, oblasts, cities of federal importance, an autonomous oblast and autonomous okrugs, all of which are equal subjects of the Russian Federation.[3] Three Russian cities of federal importance (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Sevastopol) have a status of both city and separate federal subject which comprises other cities and towns (Zelenograd, Troitsk, Kronstadt, Kolpino, etc.) within each federal city—keeping older structures of postal addresses. In 1993 the Russian Federation comprised 89 federal subjects. By 2008, the number of federal subjects had decreased to 83 because of several mergers. In 2014, Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea became the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia.[4][5]

Every federal subject has its own head, a parliament, and a constitutional court. Each federal subject has its own constitution and legislation. Subjects have equal rights in relations with federal government bodies.[6][7] The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly. They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy (asymmetric federalism).

Post-Soviet Russia formed during the history of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic within the USSR and did not change at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992, during so-called "parade of sovereignties", separatist sentiments and the War of Laws within Russia, the Russian regions signed the Federation Treaty (Russian: Федеративный договор Federativny Dogovor),[8] establishing and regulating the current inner composition of Russia, based on the division of authorities and powers among Russian government bodies and government bodies of constituent entities. The Federation Treaty was included in the text of the 1978 Constitution of the Russian SFSR. The current Constitution of Russia, adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993, came into force on December 25, 1993 and abolished the model of the Soviet system of government introduced in 1918 by Vladimir Lenin and based on the right to secede from the country and on unlimited sovereignty of federal subjects (in practice secession was never allowed), which conflicts with the country's integrity and federal laws. The new constitution eliminated a number of legal conflicts, reserved the rights of the regions, introduced local self-government and did not grant the Soviet-era right to secede from the country. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the political system became de jure closer to other modern federal states with a republican form of government in the world. In the 2000s, following the policy of Vladimir Putin and of the United Russia party (dominant party in all federal subjects), the Russian parliament changed the distribution of tax revenues, reduced the number of elections in the regions and gave more power to the federal authorities.

Terminology

An official government translation of the Constitution of Russia in Article 5 states: "1. The Russian Federation shall consist of republics, krais, oblasts, cities of federal significance, an autonomous oblast and autonomous okrugs, which shall have equal rights as constituent entities of the Russian Federation."[9]

Another translation of the Constitution of Russia gives for article 65: "The Russian Federation includes the following subjects of the Russian Federation:".[10]

How to translate the Russian term was discussed during the 49th annual American Translators Association conference in Orlando, in which Tom Fennel, a freelance translator, argued that the term "constituent entity of the Russian Federation" should be preferred to "subject".[11] This recommendation is also shared by Tamara Nekrasova, Head of Translation Department, Goltsblat BLP, who in her "Traps & Mishaps in Legal Translation" presentation in Paris stated that "constituent entity of the Russian Federation is more appropriate than subject of the Russian Federation (subject would be OK for a monarchy)".[12]

Rank (as given in constitution and ISO) Russian (Cyrillic) Russian (Latin) English translations of the constitution ISO 3166-2:RU (ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-2 (2010-06-30))
Official[13] Unofficial[10]
N/A субъект Российской Федерации sub'yekt Rossiyskoy Federatsii constituent entity of the Russian Federation subject of the Russian Federation (not mentioned)
1 республика respublika republic republic republic
2 край kray kray territory administrative territory
3 область oblastʹ oblast region administrative region
4 город федерального значения gorod federalʹnogo znacheniya city of federal significance city of federal importance autonomous city
(the Russian term used in ISO 3166-2 is автономный город avtonomnyy gorod)
5 автономная область avtonomnaya oblastʹ autonomous oblast autonomous region autonomous region
6 автономный округ avtonomnyy okrug autonomous okrug autonomous area autonomous district

Types
Federal subjects of Russia.

Each federal subject belongs to one of the following types:

Legend Description
  46 oblasts
 The most common type of federal subject with a governor and locally elected legislature. Commonly named after their administrative centres.
  22 republics
 Nominally autonomous,[14][15] each has its own constitution and legislature; is represented by the federal government in international affairs; is meant to be home to a specific ethnic minority.
  9 krais
 Essentially the same as oblasts. The title "krai" ("frontier" or "territory") is historic, related to geographic (frontier) position in a certain period of history. The current krais are not related to frontiers.
  4 autonomous okrugs
 With a substantial or predominant ethnic minority.
  3 federal cities
 Major cities that function as separate regions.
  1 autonomous oblast
 The only autonomous oblast is the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.

List
CodeNameCapital/Administrative centre[a]FlagCoat
of arms		TypeFederal districtEconomic regionArea
(km2)[16]		Population
[17]		Year
established
01 Adygea, Republic of Maykop republic Southern North Caucasus 7,600 447,109 1922
02 Bashkortostan, Republic of Ufa republic Volga Ural 143,600 4,104,336 1919
03 Buryatia, Republic of Ulan-Ude republic Far Eastern East Siberian 351,300 981,238 1923
04 Altai Republic Gorno-Altaysk republic Siberian West Siberian 92,600 202,947 1922
05 Dagestan, Republic of Makhachkala republic North Caucasian North Caucasus 50,300 2,576,531 1921
06 Ingushetia, Republic of Magas
(Largest city: Nazran)		 republic North Caucasian North Caucasus 4,000 467,294 1992
07 Kabardino-Balkar Republic Nalchik republic North Caucasian North Caucasus 12,500 901,494 1936
08 Kalmykia, Republic of Elista republic Southern Volga 76,100 292,410 1957
09 Karachay-Cherkess Republic Cherkessk republic North Caucasian North Caucasus 14,100 439,470 1957
10 Karelia, Republic of Petrozavodsk republic Northwestern Northern 172,400 716,281 1956
11 Komi Republic Syktyvkar republic Northwestern Northern 415,900 1,018,674 1921
12 Mari El Republic Yoshkar-Ola republic Volga Volga-Vyatka 23,200 727,979 1920
13 Mordovia, Republic of Saransk republic Volga Volga-Vyatka 26,200 888,766 1930
14 Sakha (Yakutia) Republic Yakutsk republic Far Eastern Far Eastern 3,103,200 949,280 1922
15 North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of Vladikavkaz republic North Caucasian North Caucasus 8,000 710,275 1924
16 Tatarstan, Republic of Kazan republic Volga Volga 68,000 3,779,265 1920
17 Tuva Republic Kyzyl republic Siberian East Siberian 170,500 305,510 1944
18 Udmurt Republic Izhevsk republic Volga Ural 42,100 1,570,316 1920
19 Khakassia, Republic of Abakan republic Siberian East Siberian 61,900 546,072 1930
20 Chechen Republic Grozny republic North Caucasian North Caucasus 15,300 1,103,686 1991
21 Chuvash Republic Cheboksary republic Volga Volga-Vyatka 18,300 1,313,754 1920
22 Altai Krai Barnaul krai Siberian West Siberian 169,100 2,607,426 1937
23 Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar krai Southern North Caucasus 76,000 5,125,221 1937
24 Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk krai Siberian East Siberian 2,339,700 2,966,042 1934
25 Primorsky Krai Vladivostok krai Far Eastern Far Eastern 165,900 2,071,210 1938
26 Stavropol Krai Stavropol krai North Caucasian North Caucasus 66,500 2,735,139 1934
27 Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk krai Far Eastern Far Eastern 788,600 1,436,570 1938
28 Amur Oblast Blagoveshchensk oblast Far Eastern Far Eastern 363,700 902,844 1932
29 Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk oblast Northwestern Northern 587,400 1,336,539 1937
30 Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan oblast Southern Volga 44,100 1,005,276 1943
31 Belgorod Oblast Belgorod oblast Central Central Black Earth 27,100 1,511,620 1954
32 Bryansk Oblast Bryansk oblast Central Central 34,900 1,378,941 1944
33 Vladimir Oblast Vladimir oblast Central Central 29,000 1,523,990 1944
34 Volgograd Oblast Volgograd oblast Southern Volga 113,900 2,699,223 1937
35 Vologda Oblast Vologda
(Largest city: Cherepovets)		 oblast Northwestern Northern 145,700 1,269,568 1937
36 Voronezh Oblast Voronezh oblast Central Central Black Earth 52,400 2,378,803 1934
37 Ivanovo Oblast Ivanovo oblast Central Central 21,800 1,148,329 1936
38 Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk oblast Siberian East Siberian 767,900 2,581,705 1937
39 Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad oblast Northwestern Kaliningrad 15,100 955,281 1946
40 Kaluga Oblast Kaluga oblast Central Central 29,900 1,041,641 1944
41 Kamchatka Krai Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky krai Far Eastern Far Eastern 472,300 358,801 2007
42 Kemerovo Oblast Kemerovo oblast Siberian West Siberian 95,500 2,899,142 1943
43 Kirov Oblast Kirov oblast Volga Volga-Vyatka 120,800 1,503,529 1934
44 Kostroma Oblast Kostroma oblast Central Central 60,100 736,641 1944
45 Kurgan Oblast Kurgan oblast Ural Ural 71,000 1,019,532 1943
46 Kursk Oblast Kursk oblast Central Central Black Earth 29,800 1,235,091 1934
47 Leningrad Oblast Largest city: Gatchina[b] oblast Northwestern Northwestern 84,500 1,669,205 1927
48 Lipetsk Oblast Lipetsk oblast Central Central Black Earth 24,100 1,213,499 1954
49 Magadan Oblast Magadan oblast Far Eastern Far Eastern 461,400 182,726 1953
50 Moscow Oblast Largest city: Balashikha[c] oblast Central Central 44,300[18] 6,618,538 1929
51 Murmansk Oblast Murmansk oblast Northwestern Northern 144,900 892,534 1938
52 Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Nizhny Novgorod oblast Volga Volga-Vyatka 76,900 3,524,028 1936
53 Novgorod Oblast Veliky Novgorod oblast Northwestern Northwestern 55,300 694,355 1944
54 Novosibirsk Oblast Novosibirsk oblast Siberian West Siberian 178,200 2,692,251 1937
55 Omsk Oblast Omsk oblast Siberian West Siberian 139,700 2,079,220 1934
56 Orenburg Oblast Orenburg oblast Volga Ural 124,000 2,179,551 1934
57 Oryol Oblast Oryol oblast Central Central 24,700 860,262 1937
58 Penza Oblast Penza oblast Volga Volga 43,200 1,452,941 1939
59 Perm Krai Perm krai Volga Ural 160,600 2,819,421 2005
60 Pskov Oblast Pskov oblast Northwestern Northwestern 55,300 760,810 1944
61 Rostov Oblast Rostov-on-Don oblast Southern North Caucasus 100,800 4,404,013 1937
62 Ryazan Oblast Ryazan oblast Central Central 39,600 1,227,910 1937
63 Samara Oblast Samara oblast Volga Volga 53,600 3,239,737 1928
64 Saratov Oblast Saratov oblast Volga Volga 100,200 2,668,310 1936
65 Sakhalin Oblast Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk oblast Far Eastern Far Eastern 87,100 546,695 1947
66 Sverdlovsk Oblast Yekaterinburg oblast Ural Ural 194,800 4,486,214 1935
67 Smolensk Oblast Smolensk oblast Central Central 49,800 1,049,574 1937
68 Tambov Oblast Tambov oblast Central Central Black Earth 34,300 1,178,443 1937
69 Tver Oblast Tver oblast Central Central 84,100 1,471,459 1935
70 Tomsk Oblast Tomsk oblast Siberian West Siberian 316,900 1,046,039 1944
71 Tula Oblast Tula oblast Central Central 25,700 1,675,758 1937
72 Tyumen Oblast Tyumen oblast Ural West Siberian 143,520 3,264,841 1944
73 Ulyanovsk Oblast Ulyanovsk oblast Volga Volga 37,300 1,382,811 1943
74 Chelyabinsk Oblast Chelyabinsk oblast Ural Ural 87,900 3,603,339 1934
75 Zabaykalsky Krai Chita krai Far Eastern East Siberian 431,500 1,155,346 2008
76 Yaroslavl Oblast Yaroslavl oblast Central Central 36,400 1,367,398 1936
77 Moscow — federal city Central Central 2,511 10,382,754
78 Saint Petersburg — federal city Northwestern Northwestern 1,439 4,662,547
79 Jewish Autonomous Oblast Birobidzhan autonomous oblast Far Eastern Far Eastern 36,000 190,915 1934
83 Nenets Autonomous Okrug Naryan-Mar autonomous okrug Northwestern Northern 176,700 41,546 1929
86 Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk
(Largest city: Surgut)		 autonomous okrug Ural West Siberian 523,100 1,432,817 1930
87 Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Anadyr autonomous okrug Far Eastern Far Eastern 737,700 53,824 1930
89 Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Salekhard
(Largest city: Noyabrsk)		 autonomous okrug Ural West Siberian 750,300 507,006 1930
91 Republic of Crimea[d] Simferopol republic Southern[19][20] North Caucasus 26,964[21] 1,966,801[22] 2014
92 Sevastopol[d] — federal city Southern[19][20] North Caucasus 864[23] 379,200[23] 2014

a. ^ The largest city is also listed when it is different from the capital/administrative center.

b. ^ According to Article 13 of the Charter of Leningrad Oblast, the governing bodies of the oblast are located in the city of St. Petersburg. However, St. Petersburg is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast.

c. ^ According to Article 24 of the Charter of Moscow Oblast, the governing bodies of the oblast are located in the city of Moscow and throughout the territory of Moscow Oblast. However, Moscow is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast.

d. ^ Not recognized internationally as a part of Russia.

e. ^ In February 2000, the former code of 20 for the Chechen Republic was cancelled and replaced with code 95. License plate production was suspended due to the Chechen Wars, causing numerous issues, which in turn forced the region to use a new code.

Statistics of federal subjects

Mergers, splits and internal territorial changes
Map of the federal subjects of Russia highlighting those that merged in the first decade of the 21st century (in yellow), and those whose merger has been discussed in the same decade (in orange)

Starting in 2005, some of the federal subjects were merged into larger territories. In this process, six very sparsely populated subjects (comprising in total 0.3% of the population of Russia) were integrated into more populated subjects, with the hope that the economic development of those territories would benefit from the much larger means of their neighbours. The merging process was finished on 1 March 2008. No new mergers have been planned since March 2008. The six territories became "administrative-territorial regions with special status". They have large proportions of minorities, with Russians being a majority only in three of them. Four of those territories have a second official language in addition to Russian: Buryat (in two of the merged territories), Komi-Permian, Koryak. This is an exception: all the other official languages of Russia (other than Russian) are set by the Constitutions of its constituent Republics (Mordovia, Chechnya, Dagestan etc.). The status of the "administrative-territorial regions with special status" has been a subject of criticism because it does not appear in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Date of referendum Date of merger Original entities Original codes New code Original entities New entity
2003-12-07 2005-12-01 1, 1a 59 (1), 81 (1a) 90 Perm Oblast (1) + Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug (1a) Perm Krai
2005-04-17 2007-01-01 2, 2a, 2b 24 (2), 88 (2a), 84 (2b) 24 Krasnoyarsk Krai (2) + Evenk Autonomous Okrug (2a) + Taymyr Autonomous Okrug (2b) Krasnoyarsk Krai
2005-10-23 2007-07-01 3, 3a 41 (3), 82 (3a) 91 Kamchatka Oblast (3) + Koryak Autonomous Okrug (3a) Kamchatka Krai
2006-04-16 2008-01-01 4, 4a 38 (4), 85 (4a) 38 Irkutsk Oblast (4) + Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug (4a) Irkutsk Oblast
2007-03-11 2008-03-01 5, 5a 75 (5), 80 (5a) 92 Chita Oblast (5) + Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug (5a) Zabaykalsky Krai

In addition to those six territories that entirely ceased to be subjects of the Russian Federation and were downgraded to territories with special status, another three subjects have a status of subject but are simultaneously part of a more populated subject:

With an estimated population of 49348 as of 2018, Chukotka is currently the least populated subject of Russia that is not part of a more populated subject. It was separated from Magadan Oblast in 1993. Chukotka is one of the richest subjects of Russia (with a GRP per capita equivalent to that of Australia) and therefore does not fit in the pattern of merging a subject to benefit from the economic dynamism of the neighbour.

In 1992, Ingushetia separated from Chechnya, both to stay away from the growing violence in Chechnya and as a bid to obtain the Eastern part of Northern Ossetia (it did not work: the Chechen conflict spread violence to Ingushetia, and North Ossetia retained its Prigorodny District). Those two Muslim republics, populated in vast majority (95%+) by closely related Vainakh people, speaking Vainakhish languages, remain the two poorest subjects of Russia, with the GRP per capita of Ingushetia being equivalent to that of Iraq. According to 2016 statistics, however they are also the safest regions of Russia, and also have the lowest alcohol consumption, with alcohol poisoning at least 40 times lower than the national average.[24][25]

Until 1994, Sokolsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast was part of Ivanovo Oblast.

In 2011–2012, the territory of Moscow increased by 140% (to 2511 km²) by acquiring part of Moscow Oblast.

On 13 May 2020, the governors of Arkhangelsk Oblast and Nenets Autonomous Okrug announced their plan to merge following the collapse of oil prices stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.[26][27] A referendum on the merger is planned to be held on 13 September 2020.[28]

See also

References

Notes
  1. "The Constitution of the Russian Federation: Chapter 3, The Federal Structure". Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  2. "Constitution of the Russian Federation". Russian Presidential Executive Office. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  3. "Chapter 1. The Fundamentals of the Constitutional System – The Constitution of the Russian Federation". Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  4. Kremlin.ru. Договор между Российской Федерацией и Республикой Крым о принятии в Российскую Федерацию Республики Крым и образовании в составе Российской Федерации новых субъектов (Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on Ascension to the Russian Federation of the Republic of Crimea and on Establishment of New Subjects Within the Russian Federation) (in Russian)
  5. Steve Gutterman and Pavel Polityuk (March 18, 2014). "Putin signs Crimea treaty as Ukraine serviceman dies in attack". Reuters. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  6. "Конституция Российской Федерации". Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  7. Chapter 1. The Fundamentals of the Constitutional System | The Constitution of the Russian Federation. Constitution.ru. Retrieved on 2013-08-20.
  8. This treaty consisted of three treaties, see also Concluding and Transitional Provisions:
  9. http://archive.government.ru/eng/gov/base/54.html (accessed="2014-10-17")
  10. "Chapter 3. The Federal Structure – The Constitution of the Russian Federation". Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  11. SlavFile Archive | Slavic Languages Division Archived August 3, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Ata-divisions.org. Retrieved on 2013-08-20.
  12. https://eulita.eu/wp/wp-content/uploads/files/Tammy_presentation.pdf
  13. "Official Website of the Government of the Russian Federation / The Russian Government". Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  14. Publications, E. (2012). The Territories of the Russian Federation 2012. Taylor & Francis. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-135-09584-0. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  15. Saunders, R.A. (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation. Historical Dictionaries of Europe. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-5381-2048-4. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  16. Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (May 21, 2004). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
  17. Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  18. "1.1. ОСНОВНЫЕ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЕ ПОКАЗАТЕЛИ в 2014 г." [MAIN SOCIOECONOMIC INDICATORS 2014]. Regions of Russia. Socioeconomic indicators – 2015 (in Russian). Russian Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  19. "Crimea becomes part of vast Southern federal district of Russia". Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  20. "В России создан Крымский федеральный округ". RBC. March 21, 2014. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  21. "Autonomous Republic of Crimea". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  22. "Population as of February 1, 2014. Average annual populations January 2014". ukrstat.gov.ua. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  23. "A General data of the region". Sevastopol City State Administration. Archived from the original on February 11, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  26. Quinn, Eilís (May 14, 2020). ""Catastrophic" economic situation prompts merger talks for Nenets AO and Arkhangelsk Oblast". The Barents Observer. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  27. "Russian Regions to Become Single Federal Subject in Decade-First". The Moscow Times. May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  28. Mukhametshina, Elena (May 13, 2020). "Arkhangelsk region and Nenets okrug merge in a year". Vedomosti (in Russian). Retrieved May 15, 2020.

Sources
  • 12 декабря 1993 г. «Конституция Российской Федерации», в ред. Федерального конституционного закона №7-ФКЗ от 30 декабря 2008 г. Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская газета", №237, 25 декабря 1993 г. (December 12, 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation, as amended by the Federal Constitutional Law #7-FKZ of December 30, 2008. Effective as of the official publication date.).
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