Autonomous okrugs of Russia
Autonomous okrug, occasionally referred to as "autonomous district", "autonomous area", and "autonomous region", is a type of federal subject of Russia and simultaneously an administrative division type of some federal subjects. As of 2014, Russia has four autonomous okrugs of its 85 federal subjects. The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is the only okrug which is not subordinate to an oblast. The other three are Arkhangelsk Oblast's Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug within Tyumen Oblast.
History
Originally called national okrug, this type of administrative unit was created in the 1920s and widely implemented in 1930 to provide autonomy to indigenous peoples of the North. In 1977, the 1977 Soviet Constitution changed the term "national okrugs" to "autonomous okrugs" in order to emphasize that they were indeed autonomies and not simply another type of administrative and territorial division. While the 1977 Constitution stipulated that the autonomous okrugs are subordinated to the oblasts and krais, this clause was revised on December 15, 1990, when it was specified that autonomous okrugs are subordinated directly to the Russian SFSR, although they still may stay in jurisdiction of a krai or an oblast to which they were subordinated before.Autonomous Okrugs
Former Autonomous Okrugs
Recent developments
In 1990, ten autonomous okrugs existed within the RSFSR. Between 2005 and 2008, the three autonomous okrugs in which the titular nationality constituted more than 30% of the population were abolished. Since then, three more have been abolished, leaving four. 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. The process was subsequently scrapped on July 2 following public outcry to the merger.The ten autonomous okrugs in 1990 were:
| Entity in 1990 | Status in August 2008 |
| Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug | now Agin-Buryat Okrug of Zabaykalsky Krai |
| Chukotka Autonomous Okrug within Magadan Oblast | no longer subordinated to Magadan Oblast |
| Evenk Autonomous Okrug within Krasnoyarsk Krai | now Evenkiysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai |
| Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug within Tyumen Oblast | |
| Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug | now Komi-Permyak Okrug of Perm Krai |
| Koryak Autonomous Okrug within Kamchatka Oblast | now Koryak Okrug of Kamchatka Krai |
| Nenets Autonomous Okrug within Arkhangelsk Oblast | |
| Taymyr Autonomous Okrug within Krasnoyarsk Krai | now Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai |
| Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug within Irkutsk Oblast | now Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug of Irkutsk Oblast |
| Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug within Tyumen Oblast |