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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 Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, its top-level political divisions according to the
Constitution of Russia The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...
.
Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...
is the only federal subject geographically separated from the rest of the Russian Federation by other countries. According to the Russian Constitution, the Russian Federation consists of republics,
krai A krai or kray (; russian: край, , ''kraya'') is one of the types of federal subjects of modern Russia, and was a type of geographical administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. Etymologically, the word is relat ...
s,
oblasts An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom o ...
, cities of federal importance, an autonomous oblast and
autonomous okrug Autonomous okrugs ( rus, автономный округ, ''avtonomnyy okrug''; more correctly referred to as "autonomous districts" or "autonomous areas") are a type of federal subject of the Russian Federation and simultaneously an administrati ...
s, all of which are equal subjects of the Russian Federation. 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 Zelenograd ( rus, Зеленогра́д, p=zʲɪlʲɪnɐˈgrat, lit. ''green city'') is a city and administrative okrug of Moscow, Russia. The city of Zelenograd and the territory under its jurisdiction form the Zelenogradsky Administrative O ...
,
Troitsk Troitsk (russian: Троицк) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Modern localities ;Urban localities *Troitsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast; *Troitsk, Moscow, a town in Troitsk Settlement of Troitsky Adm ...
,
Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...
,
Kolpino Kolpino (russian: Ко́лпино; fi, Kolpina, ') is a municipal city in Kolpinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the Izhora River (tributary of the Neva) southeast of St. Petersburg pro ...
, 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 after being annexed from Ukraine, Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea were announced as the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia, a move that was internationally unrecognized. During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
, four Ukrainian oblasts were annexed by Russia, however they remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine and are only partially occupied by Russia. Every federal subject has its own head, a
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, and a constitutional court. Each federal subject has its own constitution or charter and legislation, although the authority of these organs differ. Subjects have equal rights in relations with federal government bodies. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the
Federation Council The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...
, the
upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
of the Federal Assembly. They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy; republics are offered more autonomy. Post-Soviet Russia formed during the history of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
within the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and did not change at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992, during so-called "
parade of sovereignties The parade of sovereignties (russian: Парад суверенитетов, translit=Parad suverenitetov) was a series of declarations of sovereignty of various degrees by the Soviet republics in the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991. The declaratio ...
", separatist sentiments and the
War of Laws War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
within Russia, the Russian regions signed the
Federation Treaty The Treaty of Federation (russian: Федеративный договор, Federativny dogovor) was a treaty signed on 31 March 1992 in Moscow between the Russian government and 86 of 89 federal subjects of Russia. The Treaty of Federation ref ...
(russian: Федеративный договор ''Federativny dogovor''), 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 25 December 1993 and abolished the model of the Soviet system of government introduced in 1918 by
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
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 policies of
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
and of the ruling
United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...
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 The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...
from Russian to English uses the term "constituent entities of the Russian Federation". For example, Article 5 reads: "The Russian Federation shall consist of republics, krays,
oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
s, cities of federal significance, an autonomous oblast and
autonomous okrug Autonomous okrugs ( rus, автономный округ, ''avtonomnyy okrug''; more correctly referred to as "autonomous districts" or "autonomous areas") are a type of federal subject of the Russian Federation and simultaneously an administrati ...
s, which shall have equal rights as constituent entities of the Russian Federation." A translation provided by Garant-Internet instead uses the term "subjects of the Russian Federation". Tom Fennell, a translator, told the 2008
American Translators Association The American Translators Association (ATA) is the largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States with nearly 8,500 members in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1959, membership is open to anyone with an ...
conference that "constituent entity of the Russian Federation" is a better translation than "subject". This was supported by Tamara Nekrasova, Head of Translation Department at Goltsblat BLP, saying in a 2011 presentation at a translators conference that "''constituent entity of the Russian Federation'' is more appropriate than ''subject of the Russian Federation'' (''subject'' would be OK for a monarchy)".


Types

Each federal subject belongs to one of the following types.


List


Notes

a. The largest city is also listed when it is different from the capital/administrative centre. 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 the administrative centre 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 Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
and throughout the territory of Moscow Oblast. However, Moscow is not officially the administrative centre of the oblast. d. Internationally recognized as a part of Ukraine. 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. f. Claimed, but only partially controlled by Russia. g. As Russia only partially controls the region, this is a claimed figure.


Statistics of federal subjects

*
List of federal subjects of Russia by GRP This article is a list of Russian federal subjects by gross regional product (GRP). GRP lists For easy comparison, GRP figures are listed in rubles (RUB) and Euro (EUR), converted according to the exchange rate. All GRP figures in rubles are f ...
* Armorial of Russia (Coat of arms of Russian federal subjects) * List of federal subjects of Russia by incidence of substance abuse *
List of federal subjects of Russia by GDP per capita This is a list of Russian federal subjects by GDP per capita by purchasing power parity (PPP) and Nominal GDP. ''Note: The list does not include the Republic of Crimea and the Special City of Sevastopol.'' See also * List of Russian f ...
*
List of federal subjects of Russia by murder rate List of the federal subjects of Russia by homicide rate (homicides per 100,000) List of the federal subjects of Russia by total murder count See also * Crime in Russia * List of U.S. states by homicide rate * List of Brazilian states b ...
*
List of federal subjects of Russia by life expectancy Life expectancy in Russia is 70.06 years, according to official data for 2021. Russia's historical maximum life expectancy was 73.3 years, achieved in 2019. Life expectancy decreased by 1.8 years in 2020 and a further 1.48 years in 2021, due lar ...
* List of federal subjects of Russia by population *
List of federal subjects of Russia by total fertility rate This is a list of values of total fertility rates by federal subjects of Russia. TFR by federal subjects SourceСуммарный коэффициент рождаемости TFR by ethnic group Out of the dozens of groups listed here, only 6 ...
* List of federal subjects of Russia by Human Development Index * List of federal subjects of Russia by unemployment rate *
Regional parliaments of Russia The regional parliaments of Russia are the legislative bodies of power in the federal subjects of Russia ( republics, Territories of Russia, regions, autonomous districts and federal cities), which have different names, often collectively refe ...
*
List of current heads of federal subjects of Russia The following is a list of heads of the federal subjects of the Russian Federation. Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were annexed by Russia in 2014 and, according to its constitution, are Federal subjects. However, internationally th ...
*
Forest cover by federal subject in Russia The forest cover in Russia by federal subject as published by the Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System. As of 2021 49.4% of Russia is covered in trees. See also *List of countries by forest area References 2https://rain ...
* ISO 3166-2:RU


Mergers, splits and internal territorial changes

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 The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...
, 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. 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: *
Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (russian: Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг; Nenets: Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ''Nenjocije awtonomnoj ŋokruk'') is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of ...
(2010 population of 42090) is a subject since 1993, but is also, according to its Constitution, a part of Arkhangelsk Oblast * Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug obtained autonomy in 1977, but is simultaneously part of
Tyumen Oblast Tyumen Oblast (russian: Тюме́нская о́бласть, ''Tyumenskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Western Siberia region of Siberia, and is administratively part of the Urals ...
*
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO; russian: Яма́ло-Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг (ЯНАО), ; yrk, Ямалы-Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ) or Yamalia (russian: Ямалия) is a fed ...
obtained the status of subject in 1992 (after obtaining autonomy in 1977), but is also part of Tyumen Oblast. 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 Gross Regional Product RPper 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 Prigorodny District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia: * Prigorodny District, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, an administrative and municipal district of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania *Prigorodny Di ...
). 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. Until 1994,
Sokolsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Sokolsky District (russian: Сокольский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the forty in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Sokolsky Urban Okrug.Resolution #670 It is ...
was part of Ivanovo Oblast. In 2011–2012, the territory of Moscow increased by 140% (to ) 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 COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The process was scrapped on 2 July due to its unpopularity among the population.


See also

* Subdivisions of Russia *
Federal districts of Russia The federal districts (russian: федера́льные округа́, ''federalnyye okruga'') are groupings of the federal subjects of Russia. Federal districts are not mentioned in the nation's constitution, and do not have competences of t ...
*
Economic regions of Russia Russia is divided into twelve economic regions (russian: экономи́ческие райо́ны, ''ekonomicheskiye rayony'', sing. ''ekonomichesky rayon'')—groups of federal subjects sharing the following characteristics: *Common econo ...
*
History of the administrative division of Russia The modern administrative-territorial structure of Russia is a system of territorial organization which is a product of a centuries-long evolution and reforms. Early history The Kievan Rus' as it formed in the 10th century remained a more or ...
* Armorial of Russia * Republics of the Soviet Union *
Flags of the Soviet Republics The flags of the Soviet Socialist Republics were all defaced versions of the flag of the Soviet Union, which featured a golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star (the only exception being the Georgian SSR, which used a red hammer and s ...
* Flags of the federal subjects of Russia * List of federal subjects of Russia by population *
List of heads of federal subjects of Russia The following is a list of heads of the federal subjects of the Russian Federation. Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were annexed by Russia in 2014 and, according to its constitution, are Federal subjects. However, internationally th ...


References


Notes


Sources

* {{Authority control
Russia 1 Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...
First-level administrative divisions by country Russian-speaking countries and territories History of Russia (1991–present)