This is a list of units of administrative division of the

Republic of Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

, a

federal subject 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 ...

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-ei ...

. Tatarstan is located in the center of the

East European Plain The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain, "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountaina, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, an ...

, between the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

and the

Kama River The Kama (russian: Ка́ма, ; tt-Cyrl, Чулман, ''Çulman''; udm, Кам) is a long«Река � ...

s, stretching east towards the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. It was originally established as the Tatar ASSR within the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

on May 27, 1920 from Kazansky, Chistopolsky, Mamadyshsky, Sviyazhsky, Tetyushinsky, Laishevsky, and

Spassky Uyezd Spassky (masculine) or Spasskaya (feminine) is a common Russian surname, usually of descendants of Russian Orthodox clergymen. The neuter form is Spasskoye. The term may refer to: ;People *Boris Spassky, Soviet chess player and former world champio ...

s of the former

Kazan Governorate The Kazan Governorate (russian: Каза́нская губе́рния; tt-Cyrl, Казан губернасы; cv, Хусан кӗперниӗ; mhr, Озаҥ губерний), or the Government of Kazan, was a governorate (a '' guberniya'') ...

, Yelabuzhsky Uyezd of

Ufa Governorate Ufa Governorate (russian: Уфи́мская губе́рния, ba, Өфө губернаһы, ''Öfö gubernahı'') was a governorate of the Russian Empire with its capital in the city Ufa. It was created in 1865 by separation from Orenburg G ...

, as well as the part of

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin ( ...

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...

, and

Vyatka Governorate Vyatka Governorate (russian: Вятская губерния, udm, Ватка губерний, mhr, Виче губерний, tt-Cyrl, Вәтке губернасы) was a governorate of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, with its capital ...

s. In 1922,

Yelabuga Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and east ...

with environs was transferred to the Tatar ASSR from

. Initially, the territory of the ASSR was divided into ten ''kanton''s - Sviyazhsk, Tetyushi, Buinsk, Spassk, Chistopol, Menzelinsk, Bugulma,

Arsk Arsk ( rus, Арск, p=ˈarsk; tt-Cyrl, Арча, ''Arça'') is a town and the administrative center of Arsky District in the Tatarstan, Russia, located on the Kazanka River, from the republic's capital of Kazan. As of the 2010 Census, its ...

, Laishevo, and Mamadysh. On the territories transferred to the Tatar ASSR in 1922, Yelabuga and Agryz kantons were established, while Chelny Kanton was separated from Menzelinsk Kanton. All kantons had roughly the same borders and the territory as the uyezds which preceded them, and preserved the division into

volost Volost ( rus, во́лость, p=ˈvoləsʲtʲ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe. In earlier East Slavic history, '' volost'' was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ...

s. In the 1930s, ''kantons'' were finally abolished and replaced with forty-five districts (

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

s). In 1935, they were broken down into smaller units, resulting in sixty districts. By 1940, the number of districts increased to forty-three and peaked at seventy in 1944–1955. By 1957, the number of districts decreased to sixty-three.Очерки по географии Татарии. Казань, Таткнигоиздат, 1957
/ref> During the 1960s, some of the districts were merged, and their number diminished to thirty-seven. Only some of them were broken into smaller units again. The number of districts stabilized at forty-three after Atninsky District was split from Arsky District in 1990. In 1952–1953, the Tatar ASSR was administratively divided into three

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— Bugulma,

Chistopol Chistopol (russian: Чи́стополь; tt-Cyrl, Чистай, ''Çistay''; cv, Чистай, ''Çistay'') is a town in Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. As of the 2010 Census, its p ...

, and Kazan Oblast, but due to the oblasts' small sizes they were abolished in 1954. On August 30, 1990, the Tatar ASSR became the first one to be elevated in status as a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

within the

, becoming the Republic of Tatarstan.

Administrative and municipal divisions

References

{{Use mdy dates, date=May 2017 Tatarstan

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...