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The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (Russian: субъекты Российской Федерации) or simply as the subjects of the federation (Russian: субъекты федерации) are the constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political divisions according to the Constitution of Russia.^[1] Since March 1, 2008, the Russian Federation consists of eighty-three federal subjects.^[2]

In 1992, the Russian regions signed the Federation Treaty (Russian: Федеративный договор),^[3] establishing and regulating the current inner composition of Russia, based on 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 RSFSR. In 1993, when the current Constitution of Russia was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed. By 2008, the number of federal subjects had been decreased to 83 because of several mergers. 2 Russian cities of federal importance have a status of both city and separated federal subject.

According to the Constitution, subjects shall have equal rights as constituent entities of the Russian Federation. They shall have its own constitution/charter and legislation (adopted by regional parliaments). All federal subjects of the Russian Federation shall be equal with one another in relations with federal State government bodies.^[4][5] 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 (asymmetric federalism).

Federal subjects should not be confused with the eight Federal districts which are not subdivisions of Russia, are much larger and each encompass many federal subjects. Federal districts were created by Executive Order of the President of Russia specially for presidential envoys.

Terminology[edit]

The official government translation of the Constitution of Russia in Article 5 states:^[6] "1. The Russian Federation shall consist of republics, krays, oblasts, cities of federal significance, an autonomous oblast and autonomous okrugs, which shall have equal rights as constituent entities 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".^[7] 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 (subject would be OK for a monarchy)".^[8]

Types[edit]

Each federal subject belongs to one of the following types:

List of federal subjects[edit]

The subjects have both numerical codes and two- or three-letter ISO 3166-2:RU codes. The numerical codes span from 01 to 92, although nine of them (41, 59, 75, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, and 88) are no longer in use after mergers.

Code	Name	Capital/administrative centre (Largest city given if not capital)	Flag	Coat of arms	Federal district	Economic region	Area (km²)[9]	Population[10]
01	Adygea, Republic of	Maykop			Southern	North Caucasus	7,600	447,109
02	Bashkortostan, Republic of	Ufa			Volga	Ural	143,600	4,104,336
03	Buryatia, Republic of	Ulan-Ude			Siberian	East Siberian	351,300	981,238
04	Altai Republic	Gorno-Altaysk			Siberian	West Siberian	92,600	202,947
05	Dagestan, Republic of	Makhachkala			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	50,300	2,576,531
06	Ingushetia, Republic of	Magas (Largest city: Nazran)			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	4,000	467,294
07	Kabardino-Balkar Republic	Nalchik			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	12,500	901,494
08	Kalmykia, Republic of	Elista			Southern	Volga	76,100	292,410
09	Karachay-Cherkess Republic	Cherkessk			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	14,100	439,470
10	Karelia, Republic of	Petrozavodsk			Northwestern	Northern	172,400	716,281
11	Komi Republic	Syktyvkar			Northwestern	Northern	415,900	1,018,674
12	Mari El Republic	Yoshkar-Ola			Volga	Volga-Vyatka	23,200	727,979
13	Mordovia, Republic of	Saransk			Volga	Volga-Vyatka	26,200	888,766
14	Sakha (Yakutia) Republic	Yakutsk			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	3,103,200	949,280
15	North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of	Vladikavkaz			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	8,000	710,275
16	Tatarstan, Republic of	Kazan			Volga	Volga	68,000	3,779,265
17	Tuva Republic	Kyzyl			Siberian	East Siberian	170,500	305,510
18	Udmurt Republic	Izhevsk			Volga	Ural	42,100	1,570,316
19	Khakassia, Republic of	Abakan			Siberian	East Siberian	61,900	546,072
20	Chechen Republic	Grozny			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	15,300	1,103,686
21	Chuvash Republic	Cheboksary			Volga	Volga-Vyatka	18,300	1,313,754
22	Altai Krai	Barnaul			Siberian	West Siberian	169,100	2,607,426
92	Zabaykalsky Krai	Chita			Siberian	East Siberian	431,500	1,155,346
91	Kamchatka Krai	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	472,300	358,801
23	Krasnodar Krai	Krasnodar			Southern	North Caucasus	76,000	5,125,221
24	Krasnoyarsk Krai	Krasnoyarsk			Siberian	East Siberian	2,339,700	2,966,042
90	Perm Krai	Perm			Volga	Ural	160,600	2,819,421
25	Primorsky Krai	Vladivostok			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	165,900	2,071,210
26	Stavropol Krai	Stavropol			North Caucasian	North Caucasus	66,500	2,735,139
27	Khabarovsk Krai	Khabarovsk			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	788,600	1,436,570
28	Amur Oblast	Blagoveshchensk			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	363,700	902,844
29	Arkhangelsk Oblast	Arkhangelsk			Northwestern	Northern	587,400	1,336,539
30	Astrakhan Oblast	Astrakhan			Southern	Volga	44,100	1,005,276
31	Belgorod Oblast	Belgorod			Central	Central Black Earth	27,100	1,511,620
32	Bryansk Oblast	Bryansk			Central	Central	34,900	1,378,941
33	Vladimir Oblast	Vladimir			Central	Central	29,000	1,523,990
34	Volgograd Oblast	Volgograd			Southern	Volga	113,900	2,699,223
35	Vologda Oblast	Vologda (Largest city: Cherepovets)			Northwestern	Northern	145,700	1,269,568
36	Voronezh Oblast	Voronezh			Central	Central Black Earth	52,400	2,378,803
37	Ivanovo Oblast	Ivanovo			Central	Central	21,800	1,148,329
38	Irkutsk Oblast	Irkutsk			Siberian	East Siberian	767,900	2,581,705
39	Kaliningrad Oblast	Kaliningrad			Northwestern	Kaliningrad	15,100	955,281
40	Kaluga Oblast	Kaluga			Central	Central	29,900	1,041,641
42	Kemerovo Oblast	Kemerovo (Largest city: Novokuznetsk)			Siberian	West Siberian	95,500	2,899,142
43	Kirov Oblast	Kirov			Volga	Volga-Vyatka	120,800	1,503,529
44	Kostroma Oblast	Kostroma			Central	Central	60,100	736,641
45	Kurgan Oblast	Kurgan			Ural	Ural	71,000	1,019,532
46	Kursk Oblast	Kursk			Central	Central Black Earth	29,800	1,235,091
47	Leningrad Oblast	Largest city: Gatchina[a]			Northwestern	Northwestern	84,500	1,669,205
48	Lipetsk Oblast	Lipetsk			Central	Central Black Earth	24,100	1,213,499
49	Magadan Oblast	Magadan			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	461,400	182,726
50	Moscow Oblast	Largest city: Balashikha[b]			Central	Central	45,900	6,618,538
51	Murmansk Oblast	Murmansk			Northwestern	Northern	144,900	892,534
52	Nizhny Novgorod Oblast	Nizhny Novgorod			Volga	Volga-Vyatka	76,900	3,524,028
53	Novgorod Oblast	Veliky Novgorod			Northwestern	Northwestern	55,300	694,355
54	Novosibirsk Oblast	Novosibirsk			Siberian	West Siberian	178,200	2,692,251
55	Omsk Oblast	Omsk			Siberian	West Siberian	139,700	2,079,220
56	Orenburg Oblast	Orenburg			Volga	Ural	124,000	2,179,551
57	Oryol Oblast	Oryol			Central	Central	24,700	860,262
58	Penza Oblast	Penza			Volga	Volga	43,200	1,452,941
60	Pskov Oblast	Pskov			Northwestern	Northwestern	55,300	760,810
61	Rostov Oblast	Rostov-on-Don			Southern	North Caucasus	100,800	4,404,013
62	Ryazan Oblast	Ryazan			Central	Central	39,600	1,227,910
63	Samara Oblast	Samara			Volga	Volga	53,600	3,239,737
64	Saratov Oblast	Saratov			Volga	Volga	100,200	2,668,310
65	Sakhalin Oblast	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	87,100	546,695
66	Sverdlovsk Oblast	Yekaterinburg			Ural	Ural	194,800	4,486,214
67	Smolensk Oblast	Smolensk			Central	Central	49,800	1,049,574
68	Tambov Oblast	Tambov			Central	Central Black Earth	34,300	1,178,443
69	Tver Oblast	Tver			Central	Central	84,100	1,471,459
70	Tomsk Oblast	Tomsk			Siberian	West Siberian	316,900	1,046,039
71	Tula Oblast	Tula			Central	Central	25,700	1,675,758
72	Tyumen Oblast	Tyumen			Ural	West Siberian	1,435,200	3,264,841
73	Ulyanovsk Oblast	Ulyanovsk			Volga	Volga	37,300	1,382,811
74	Chelyabinsk Oblast	Chelyabinsk			Ural	Ural	87,900	3,603,339
76	Yaroslavl Oblast	Yaroslavl			Central	Central	36,400	1,367,398
77	Moscow	—			Central	Central	1,100	10,382,754
78	Saint Petersburg	—			Northwestern	Northwestern	1,439	4,662,547
79	Jewish Autonomous Oblast	Birobidzhan			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	36,000	190,915
83	Nenets Autonomous Okrug	Naryan-Mar			Northwestern	Northern	176,700	41,546
86	Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra	Khanty-Mansiysk (Largest city: Surgut)			Ural	West Siberian	523,100	1,432,817
87	Chukotka Autonomous Okrug	Anadyr			Far Eastern	Far Eastern	737,700	53,824
89	Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	Salekhard (Largest city: Novy Urengoy)			Ural	West Siberian	750,300	507,006

Mergers[edit]

Federal subjects of Russia

Starting in 2005, some of the federal subjects were merged into larger territories. The merging process was finished on March 1, 2008. No new mergers have been planned since March 2008.

Further proposals for mergers[edit]

The following merger proposals have been made in recent years; most have since become inactive.

Proposals	Federal subjects	Map
6, 6a	Arkhangelsk Oblast + Nenets Autonomous Okrug = Pomorsky Krai
7, 7a, 7b	Khabarovsk Krai + Jewish Autonomous Oblast + Amur Oblast = Amur Krai
8, 8a	Magadan Oblast + Chukotka Autonomous Okrug = Magadan Krai
9, 9a, 9b	Irkutsk Oblast + Buryat Republic + Zabaykalsky Krai = Baykalsky Krai
10, 10a, 10b	Tyumen Oblast + Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug + Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug = Tyumen Krai
11, 11a, 11b	Novosibirsk Oblast + Omsk Oblast + Tomsk Oblast = Novosibirsk Krai
12, 12a, 12b	Kemerovo Oblast + Altai Republic + Altai Krai = Altai Krai
13	St. Petersburg + Leningrad Oblast = St. Petersburg Oblast
14	Moscow + Moscow Oblast = Moscow Oblast
15, 15a	Yaroslavl Oblast + Kostroma Oblast = Yaroslavl Krai
16, 16a	Novgorod Oblast + Pskov Oblast = Novgorod Krai
17, 17a	Krasnodar Krai + Republic of Adygea = Krasnodar Krai
18, 18a	Republic of Ingushetia + Chechen Republic = Checheno-Ingushetia

See also[edit]

• Subdivisions of Russia
• Federal districts of Russia
• Economic regions of Russia
• History of the administrative division of Russia
• Flags of the federal subjects of Russia
• List of heads of federal subjects of Russia
• List of Russian federal subjects by GRP

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• 12 декабря 1993 г. «Конституция Российской Федерации», в ред. Федерального конституционного закона №7-ФКЗ от 30 декабря 2008 г. Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская газета", №237, 25 декабря 1993 г. (December 12, 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation, as amended by the Federal Constitutional Law #7-FKZ of December 30, 2008. Effective as of the official publication date.).

v t e Lists of federal subjects of Russia By Population (density) Gross Regional Product GDP per capita Literacy rate Total fertility rate Substance abuse HDI Life expectancy Highest point Murder rate Unemployment Name etymology Other Flags Coats of arms Governors