Federal subjects of Russia


The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation or simply as the subjects of the federation, are the constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political divisions according to the Constitution of Russia. Since March 18, 2014, the Russian Federation constitutionally has consisted of 85 federal subjects, of which two are located on the Crimean Peninsula, which is not recognized internationally as part of Russia.
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. Three Russian cities of federal importance have a status of both city and separate federal subject which comprises other cities and towns 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.
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. 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.
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, 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 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, 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, 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."
Another translation of the Constitution of Russia gives for article 65: "The Russian Federation includes the following subjects of the Russian Federation:".
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". 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 ".

Types

Each federal subject belongs to one of the following types:
LegendDescription
The most common type of federal subject with a governor and locally elected legislature. Commonly named after their administrative centres.
Nominally autonomous, each with its own constitution and legislature but represented by the federal government in international affairs. Each is home to a specific ethnic minority.
Essentially the same as oblasts. The title "krai" is historic, related to geographic position in a certain period of history. The current krais are not related to frontiers.
With a substantial or predominant ethnic minority.
Major cities that function as separate regions.
The only autonomous oblast is the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.

List

CodeNameCapital/Administrative centreFlagCoat
of arms		TypeFederal districtEconomic regionArea
Population
Year
established
01Adygea, Republic ofMaykoprepublicSouthernNorth Caucasus7,600447,1091922
02Bashkortostan, Republic ofUfarepublicVolgaUral143,6004,104,3361919
03Buryatia, Republic ofUlan-UderepublicFar EasternEast Siberian351,300981,2381923
04Altai RepublicGorno-AltayskrepublicSiberianWest Siberian92,600202,9471922
05Dagestan, Republic ofMakhachkalarepublicNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus50,3002,576,5311921
06Ingushetia, Republic ofMagas
republicNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus4,000467,2941992
07Kabardino-Balkar RepublicNalchikrepublicNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus12,500901,4941936
08Kalmykia, Republic ofElistarepublicSouthernVolga76,100292,4101957
09Karachay-Cherkess RepublicCherkesskrepublicNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus14,100439,4701957
10Karelia, Republic ofPetrozavodskrepublicNorthwesternNorthern172,400716,2811956
11Komi RepublicSyktyvkarrepublicNorthwesternNorthern415,9001,018,6741921
12Mari El RepublicYoshkar-OlarepublicVolgaVolga-Vyatka23,200727,9791920
13Mordovia, Republic ofSaranskrepublicVolgaVolga-Vyatka26,200888,7661930
14Sakha RepublicYakutskrepublicFar EasternFar Eastern3,103,200949,2801922
15North Ossetia-Alania, Republic ofVladikavkazrepublicNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus8,000710,2751924
16Tatarstan, Republic ofKazanrepublicVolgaVolga68,0003,779,2651920
17Tuva RepublicKyzylrepublicSiberianEast Siberian170,500305,5101944
18Udmurt RepublicIzhevskrepublicVolgaUral42,1001,570,3161920
19Khakassia, Republic ofAbakanrepublicSiberianEast Siberian61,900546,0721930
20Chechen RepublicGroznyrepublicNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus15,3001,103,6861991
21Chuvash RepublicCheboksaryrepublicVolgaVolga-Vyatka18,3001,313,7541920
22Altai KraiBarnaulkraiSiberianWest Siberian169,1002,607,4261937
23Krasnodar KraiKrasnodarkraiSouthernNorth Caucasus76,0005,125,2211937
24Krasnoyarsk KraiKrasnoyarskkraiSiberianEast Siberian2,339,7002,966,0421934
25Primorsky KraiVladivostokkraiFar EasternFar Eastern165,9002,071,2101938
26Stavropol KraiStavropolkraiNorth CaucasianNorth Caucasus66,5002,735,1391934
27Khabarovsk KraiKhabarovskkraiFar EasternFar Eastern788,6001,436,5701938
28Amur OblastBlagoveshchenskoblastFar EasternFar Eastern363,700902,8441932
29Arkhangelsk OblastArkhangelskoblastNorthwesternNorthern587,4001,336,5391937
30Astrakhan OblastAstrakhanoblastSouthernVolga44,1001,005,2761943
31Belgorod OblastBelgorodoblastCentralCentral Black Earth27,1001,511,6201954
32Bryansk OblastBryanskoblastCentralCentral34,9001,378,9411944
33Vladimir OblastVladimiroblastCentralCentral29,0001,523,9901944
34Volgograd OblastVolgogradoblastSouthernVolga113,9002,699,2231937
35Vologda OblastVologda
oblastNorthwesternNorthern145,7001,269,5681937
36Voronezh OblastVoronezhoblastCentralCentral Black Earth52,4002,378,8031934
37Ivanovo OblastIvanovooblastCentralCentral21,8001,148,3291936
38Irkutsk OblastIrkutskoblastSiberianEast Siberian767,9002,581,7051937
39Kaliningrad OblastKaliningradoblastNorthwesternKaliningrad15,100955,2811946
40Kaluga OblastKalugaoblastCentralCentral29,9001,041,6411944
41Kamchatka KraiPetropavlovsk-KamchatskykraiFar EasternFar Eastern472,300358,8012007
42Kemerovo OblastKemerovooblastSiberianWest Siberian95,5002,899,1421943
43Kirov OblastKirovoblastVolgaVolga-Vyatka120,8001,503,5291934
44Kostroma OblastKostromaoblastCentralCentral60,100736,6411944
45Kurgan OblastKurganoblastUralUral71,0001,019,5321943
46Kursk OblastKurskoblastCentralCentral Black Earth29,8001,235,0911934
47Leningrad OblastLargest city: GatchinaoblastNorthwesternNorthwestern84,5001,669,2051927
48Lipetsk OblastLipetskoblastCentralCentral Black Earth24,1001,213,4991954
49Magadan OblastMagadanoblastFar EasternFar Eastern461,400182,7261953
50Moscow OblastLargest city: BalashikhaoblastCentralCentral44,3006,618,5381929
51Murmansk OblastMurmanskoblastNorthwesternNorthern144,900892,5341938
52Nizhny Novgorod OblastNizhny NovgorodoblastVolgaVolga-Vyatka76,9003,524,0281936
53Novgorod OblastVeliky NovgorodoblastNorthwesternNorthwestern55,300694,3551944
54Novosibirsk OblastNovosibirskoblastSiberianWest Siberian178,2002,692,2511937
55Omsk OblastOmskoblastSiberianWest Siberian139,7002,079,2201934
56Orenburg OblastOrenburgoblastVolgaUral124,0002,179,5511934
57Oryol OblastOryoloblastCentralCentral24,700860,2621937
58Penza OblastPenzaoblastVolgaVolga43,2001,452,9411939
59Perm KraiPermkraiVolgaUral160,6002,819,4212005
60Pskov OblastPskovoblastNorthwesternNorthwestern55,300760,8101944
61Rostov OblastRostov-on-DonoblastSouthernNorth Caucasus100,8004,404,0131937
62Ryazan OblastRyazanoblastCentralCentral39,6001,227,9101937
63Samara OblastSamaraoblastVolgaVolga53,6003,239,7371928
64Saratov OblastSaratovoblastVolgaVolga100,2002,668,3101936
65Sakhalin OblastYuzhno-SakhalinskoblastFar EasternFar Eastern87,100546,6951947
66Sverdlovsk OblastYekaterinburgoblastUralUral194,8004,486,2141935
67Smolensk OblastSmolenskoblastCentralCentral49,8001,049,5741937
68Tambov OblastTambovoblastCentralCentral Black Earth34,3001,178,4431937
69Tver OblastTveroblastCentralCentral84,1001,471,4591935
70Tomsk OblastTomskoblastSiberianWest Siberian316,9001,046,0391944
71Tula OblastTulaoblastCentralCentral25,7001,675,7581937
72Tyumen OblastTyumenoblastUralWest Siberian143,5203,264,8411944
73Ulyanovsk OblastUlyanovskoblastVolgaVolga37,3001,382,8111943
74Chelyabinsk OblastChelyabinskoblastUralUral87,9003,603,3391934
75Zabaykalsky KraiChitakraiFar EasternEast Siberian431,5001,155,3462008
76Yaroslavl OblastYaroslavloblastCentralCentral36,4001,367,3981936
77Moscow—federal cityCentralCentral2,51110,382,754
78Saint Petersburg—federal cityNorthwesternNorthwestern1,4394,662,547
79Jewish Autonomous OblastBirobidzhanautonomous oblastFar EasternFar Eastern36,000190,9151934
83Nenets Autonomous OkrugNaryan-Marautonomous okrugNorthwesternNorthern176,70041,5461929
86Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug – YugraKhanty-Mansiysk
autonomous okrugUralWest Siberian523,1001,432,8171930
87Chukotka Autonomous OkrugAnadyrautonomous okrugFar EasternFar Eastern737,70053,8241930
89Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous OkrugSalekhard
autonomous okrugUralWest Siberian750,300507,0061930
91Republic of CrimeaSimferopolrepublicSouthernNorth Caucasus26,9641,966,8012014
92Sevastopol—federal citySouthernNorth Caucasus864379,2002014

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

Starting in 2005, some of the federal subjects were merged into larger territories. In this process, six very sparsely populated subjects 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 :ru:Объединение регионов России|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, Komi-Permian, Koryak. This is an exception: all the other official languages of Russia are set by the Constitutions of its constituent Republics. 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 referendumDate of mergerOriginal entitiesOriginal codesNew codeOriginal entitiesNew entity
2003-12-072005-12-011, 1a59, 81 90Perm Oblast + Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug Perm Krai
2005-04-172007-01-012, 2a, 2b24, 88, 84 24Krasnoyarsk Krai + Evenk Autonomous Okrug + Taymyr Autonomous Okrug Krasnoyarsk Krai
2005-10-232007-07-013, 3a41, 82 91Kamchatka Oblast + Koryak Autonomous Okrug Kamchatka Krai
2006-04-162008-01-014, 4a38, 85 38Irkutsk Oblast + Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug Irkutsk Oblast
2007-03-112008-03-015, 5a75, 80 92Chita Oblast + Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug 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 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. Those two Muslim republics, populated in vast majority 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.
Until 1994, Sokolsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast was part of Ivanovo Oblast.
In 2011–2012, the territory of Moscow increased by 140% 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. The process was scrapped on July 2.