Head of Administration (russian: Глава администрации, ''Glava administratsii'') is the one of the official titles for appointed or elected head of a local government in

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In many Federal Districts, regions and cities, the position as Head of Administration is the equivalent to that of the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, or the Head of local government.

History

The post of head of the administration of a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

was established in August 1991 by President

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

. The heads of administrations replaced the Soviet-era ''chairmen of the executive committees of the councils of people's deputies''. The first of them was the head of the

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of t ...

Administration Vasily Dyakonov on August 23, 1991. In 1991–93, the heads of the regional administrations were nominated by the President of Russia, and approved by the regional legislature. In 1994–96, heads of administrations were appointed by the President of Russia on the recommendation of the

Prime Minister of Russia The chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, also informally known as the prime minister, is the nominal head of government of Russia. Although the post dates back to 1905, its current form was established on 12 December 1993 fo ...

; the consent of regional deputies was not required. From 1995/96 to 2005, the heads of regional administrations were elected by direct vote. The 1993 Constitution gave the regions the right to determine the title of the highest official in the region. As a result, since 1994 the title of the Head of administration has been gradually supplanted by the more prestigious title of

. In colloquial use, heads of administrations began to be called "governors" as early as 1991–92, despite objections that this word should not be used, because there are no

governorates A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

in the country.

Using today

Today, the title of Head of administration instead of Governor is used only in one region of Russia:

Tambov Oblast Tambov Oblast (russian: Тамбо́вская о́бласть, ''Tambovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,091,994. Ge ...

. In the Charter of Krasnodar Krai the head of the region is designated as "Head of administration (Governor)", which allows the use of either of the two titles.

Sources

Local government in Russia {{Russia-stub