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Updates: 

Alexander Filatov informed me that on December 4, 2016 Saratov changed from UTC +3 to UTC +4. (See Source[16].)

(Thanks to Alexander Filatov.) More subjects have changed their time zones: effective March 2016, Sakhalin and Zabaykal'ye time zones advanced one hour; and effective May 2016 Tomsk time zone advanced one hour

Several more subjects have had their time zones changed, effective March 2016. Novosibirsk time zone advanced one hour.

GEC Update 17, dated 2014-09-30, changes the name of Khanty-Mansiyskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug to Khanty-Mansiyskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug-Yugra.

A law passed on 2014-07-09 alters the geographical zones (source [12]). On 2014-10-26 at 02:00, the new zones will take effect. In most areas, standard time will be set back one hour, so the effect will be the same as if daylight saving time had gone into force in 2011 and were now ending. In two of the 83 subjects, Magadan and Zabaykal'ye, the clock will be set back two hours. In five subjects, Chukot, Kamchatka, Kemerovo, Samara, and Udmurt, there will be no clock change at that time. Sakha and Sakhalin are split; I have assigned them to the time zones covering the great majority of their territory and population.

The Russian Federation used to have eleven time zones. On 2011-10-30 it abandoned daylight saving time, and advanced its standard time by one hour, by failing to "fall back" on the date when DST would otherwise have ended; it also reduced the number of time zones to nine. This new change brings the number of zones back to eleven. The only area with standard time equal to UTC+11 is part of Sakha.

Russia has asserted its sovereignty over Crimea on 2014-03-18, but most other nations continue to regard Crimea as part of Ukraine.

I've added the populations according to the 2010 census (source [11]).

Update 13 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4) is dated 2013-09-30. The only change that affects Russia is the decommissioning of the code for the southern Kuril Islands.

Update 4 to "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" was issued on 2011-04-30. It has a code for the new territory.

Update 2 to "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" was published on 2010-11-30. In Russia, it officially revokes the FIPS code for the defunct Ust-Orda Buryat autonomous province, which had been left in the standard by an oversight.

The new Zabaykal'ye territory created in 2008 is reflected in the ISO standard by Newsletter II-2 (2010-06-30), and in the U.S. standard "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" by Update 1 (2010-08-20).

FIPS PUB 10-4 Change Notice 13 was issued on 2008-02-04. It shows the merger of Kamchatka and Koryak.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-9 was published on 2007-11-28. It shows the new status of Kamchatka and Perm' territories.

FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 12, dated 2007-06-11, has FIPS codes changes for Krasnoyarsk. There is also a new country code PJ to designate the four southern Kuril Islands which I have assigned to Sakhalin region, and which are claimed by Japan.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter I-8, published on 2007-04-17, updates the list of ISO codes to take into account the Perm' merger. FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 11, dated 2006-07-11, has assigned a new FIPS code to the newly merged Perm' territory.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-7 was published on 2005-09-13. The only change affecting Russia was to add the local language name to one okrug, changing it to "Khanty-Mansiyskiy avtonomnyy okrug [Yugra]". I understand that this name became official in 2003.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Russia, the draft standard showed 89 divisions of six different types. The final standard shows the same 89 divisions, but several of their codes were changed. The ISO codes for two divisions of Russia - Altay territory and Gorno-Altay republic - were accidentally interchanged in "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries". A number of divisions also had the wrong time zone listed in the book, but several of the time zones have been changed since then, so the list in the book would be outdated anyway.

Country overview: 

Short name	RUSSIA
ISO code	RU
FIPS code	RS
Language	Russian (ru)
Time zone	(see Time Zones of Russia and/or table below)
Capital	Moscow

 

Russia is the largest country in the world in area. Fittingly, it requires a long article. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Empire embraced almost all of what later became the Soviet Union, as well as Finland and much of Poland. On 1917-03-15, Czar Nicholas II abdicated, and a provisional government was installed. On 1917-11-07, Bolsheviks led by Lenin overthrew this government, replacing it with a Communist one. (Russians call this the October Revolution because Russia still observed the Julian calendar at the time.) Many of the peripheral territories of the empire became independent or were conquered and alienated from Russia by peace settlements. A civil war ensued. It ended with the Red faction victorious in 1920. In 1922, a new constitution created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R., or Soviet Union). The U.S.S.R. gained territory as a result of World War II. The Communist system eventually proved unviable. On 1991-12-25, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved, breaking into 15 countries corresponding to its constituent republics (some of them had already unilaterally declared independence). The Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) was formed to replace it on 1991-12-21. The members at its foundation were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Moldavia, Russia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The C.I.S. still endures as a very loose federation.

Note: this article uses the abbreviations G. for Government (Guberniya), S.S.R. for Soviet Socialist Republic (Sovyetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika), S.F.S.R. for Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (Sovyetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika), A.S.S.R. for Autonomous S.S.R. (Avtonomnaya S.S.R.), Obl. for Region (Oblast'), A.Obl. for Autonomous Region (Avtonomnaya Oblast'), and A.Okr. for Autonomous Province (Avtonomnyy Okrug, formerly called Natsional'niy Okrug). The Russian names in context may be inflected, as in Soyuz Sovyetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), where S.S.R. is in the genitive plural. "Constituent republics" refers to S.S.R.s and the S.F.S.R.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Rusland
2. Dutch: Rusland, Russische Federatie (formal)
3. English: Russian Federation (formal)
4. Finnish: Venäjä
5. French: Russie, Fédération f de Russie f (formal), Fédération Russe (formal)
6. German: Rußland, Russland n, Russische Föderation f (formal)
7. Icelandic: Rússland
8. Italian: Russia f
9. Norwegian: Den russiske føderasjon (formal) (Bokmål), Den russiske føderasjonen (formal) (Nynorsk), Russland
10. Portuguese: Rússia f, Federação f Russa (formal)
11. Russian: Российская Федерация (formal), Россия
12. Spanish: Rusia, Federación f de Rusia f (formal)
13. Swedish: Ryssland
14. Turkish: Rusya Federasyonu

Other names of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (obsolete):

1. English: Soviet Union, U.S.S.R.
2. French: Union f des républiques fp socialistes soviétiques, U.R.S.S., Union soviétique
3. German: Union f der sozialistischen Sowjetrepubliken fp, U.d.S.S.R., Sowjetunion
4. Italian: Unione f delle Repubbliche fp Socialiste Sovietiche, U.R.S.S.
5. Norwegian: Sovjet-Unionen
6. Portuguese: União f das Repúblicas fp Socialistas Soviéticas, União Soviética
7. Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, СССР
8. Spanish: Unión f de Repúblicas fp Socialistas Soviéticas, U.R.S.S., Unión Soviética
9. Swedish: Sovjet-Unionen
10. Turkish: Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyetler Birliği

Origin of name: 

land of the Rus (possibly a group of Vikings)

Primary subdivisions: 

Russia is divided into one avtonomnaya oblast' (autonomous region); four avtonomnyy okrug (autonomous province); two gorod ([federal] cities); nine kray (territory); 46 oblast' (region); and 21 respublika (republic). The phrase "federal subjects" covers all of these types of division.

Subject	Tp	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Reg	Post	TZ	Pop-2010	Pop-2002	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Adygey	r	RU.AD	AD	RS01	Y	352	+3	439,996	447,109	7,600	2,900	Maykop
Altay	k	RU.AL	ALT	RS04	S	656	+7	2,419,755	2,607,426	169,100	65,300	Barnaul
Amur	o	RU.AM	AMU	RS05	D	675	+9	830,103	902,844	363,700	140,400	Blagoveshchensk
Arkhangel'sk	o	RU.AR	ARK	RS06	V	163	+3	1,185,536	1,294,993	410,700	158,600	Archangel
Astrakhan'	o	RU.AS	AST	RS07	Y	414	+4	1,010,073	1,005,276	44,100	17,000	Astrakhan'
Bashkortostan	r	RU.BK	BA	RS08	P	450	+5	4,072,292	4,104,336	143,600	55,400	Ufa
Belgorod	o	RU.BL	BEL	RS09	T	308	+3	1,532,526	1,511,620	27,100	10,500	Belgorod
Bryansk	o	RU.BR	BRY	RS10	T	241	+3	1,278,217	1,378,941	34,900	13,500	Bryansk
Buryat	r	RU.BU	BU	RS11	S	670	+8	972,021	981,238	351,300	135,600	Ulan-Ude
Chechnya	r	RU.CN	CE	RS12	K	366	+3	1,268,989	1,103,686	12,300	4,700	Groznyy
Chelyabinsk	o	RU.CL	CHE	RS13	U	454	+5	3,476,217	3,603,339	87,900	33,900	Chelyabinsk
Chukot	a	RU.CK	CHU	RS15	D	686	+12	50,526	53,824	737,700	284,800	Anadyr'
Chuvash	r	RU.CV	CU	RS16	P	428	+3	1,251,619	1,313,754	18,300	7,100	Cheboksary
Dagestan	r	RU.DA	DA	RS17	K	367	+3	2,910,249	2,576,531	50,300	19,400	Makhachkala
Gorno-Altay	r	RU.GA	AL	RS03	S	659	+7	206,168	202,947	92,600	35,800	Gorno-Altaysk
Ingush	r	RU.IN	IN	RS19	K	366	+3	412,529	467,294	3,750	1,400	Magas
Irkutsk	o	RU.IK	IRK	RS20	S	664	+8	2,428,750	2,581,705	767,900	296,400	Irkutsk
Ivanovo	o	RU.IV	IVA	RS21	T	153	+3	1,061,651	1,148,329	23,900	9,200	Ivanovo
Kabardin-Balkar	r	RU.KB	KB	RS22	K	360	+3	859,939	901,494	12,500	4,800	Nal'chik
Kaliningrad	o	RU.KN	KGD	RS23	V	236	+2	941,873	955,281	15,100	5,800	Kaliningrad
Kalmyk	r	RU.KL	KL	RS24	Y	358	+3	289,481	292,410	76,100	29,400	Elista
Kaluga	o	RU.KG	KLU	RS25	T	248	+3	1,010,930	1,041,641	29,900	11,500	Kaluga
Kamchatka	k	RU.KQ	KAM	RS92	D	683	+12	322,079	358,801	472,300	182,300	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy
Karachay-Cherkess	r	RU.KC	KC	RS27	K	357	+3	477,859	439,470	14,100	5,400	Cherkessk
Karelia	r	RU.KI	KR	RS28	V	185	+3	643,548	716,281	172,400	66,600	Petrozavodsk
Kemerovo	o	RU.KE	KEM	RS29	S	650	+7	2,763,135	2,899,142	95,500	36,900	Kemerovo
Khabarovsk	k	RU.KH	KHA	RS30	D	680	+10	1,343,869	1,436,570	752,600	290,600	Khabarovsk
Khakass	r	RU.KK	KK	RS31	S	662	+7	532,403	546,072	61,900	23,900	Abakan
Khanty-Mansiy	a	RU.KM	KHM	RS32	U	626	+5	1,532,243	1,432,817	523,100	202,000	Khanty-Mansiysk
Kirov	o	RU.KV	KIR	RS33	P	610	+3	1,341,312	1,503,529	120,800	46,600	Vyatka
Komi	r	RU.KO	KO	RS34	V	167	+3	901,189	1,018,674	415,900	160,600	Syktyvkar
Kostroma	o	RU.KT	KOS	RS37	T	156	+3	667,562	736,641	60,100	23,200	Kostroma
Krasnodar	k	RU.KD	KDA	RS38	Y	350	+3	5,226,647	5,125,221	76,000	29,300	Krasnodar
Krasnoyarsk	k	RU.KX	KYA	RS91	S	660	+7	2,828,187	2,966,042	2,277,800	879,500	Krasnoyarsk
Kurgan	o	RU.KU	KGN	RS40	U	640	+5	910,807	1,019,532	71,000	27,400	Kurgan
Kursk	o	RU.KS	KRS	RS41	T	305	+3	1,127,081	1,235,091	29,800	11,500	Kursk
Leningrad	o	RU.LN	LEN	RS42	V	190	+3	1,716,868	1,669,205	85,900	33,200	Saint Petersburg
Lipetsk	o	RU.LP	LIP	RS43	T	398	+3	1,173,513	1,213,499	24,100	9,300	Lipetsk
Magadan	o	RU.MG	MAG	RS44	D	685	+11	156,996	182,726	461,400	178,100	Magadan
Mariy-El	r	RU.ME	ME	RS45	P	424	+3	696,459	727,979	23,200	9,000	Yoshkar-Ola
Mordovia	r	RU.MR	MO	RS46	P	430	+3	834,755	888,766	26,200	10,100	Saransk
Moscow City	g	RU.MC	MOW	RS48	T	103	+3	11,503,501	10,382,754	804	300	Moscow
Moskva	o	RU.MS	MOS	RS47	T	141	+3	7,095,120	6,618,538	47,000	18,100	Moscow
Murmansk	o	RU.MM	MUR	RS49	V	183	+3	795,409	892,534	144,900	55,900	Murmansk
Nenets	a	RU.NN	NEN	RS50	V	164	+3	42,090	41,546	176,700	68,200	Nar'yan-Mar
Nizhegorod	o	RU.NZ	NIZ	RS51	P	603	+3	3,310,597	3,524,028	74,800	28,900	Nizhniy Novgorod
North Ossetia	r	RU.NO	SE	RS68	K	362	+3	712,980	710,275	8,000	3,100	Vladikavkaz
Novgorod	o	RU.NG	NGR	RS52	V	173	+3	634,111	694,355	55,300	21,400	Novgorod
Novosibirsk	o	RU.NS	NVS	RS53	S	630	+7	2,665,911	2,692,251	178,200	68,800	Novosibirsk
Omsk	o	RU.OM	OMS	RS54	S	644	+6	1,977,665	2,079,220	139,700	53,900	Omsk
Orel	o	RU.OL	ORL	RS56	T	302	+3	786,935	860,262	24,700	9,500	Orel
Orenburg	o	RU.OB	ORE	RS55	P	460	+5	2,033,072	2,179,551	124,000	47,900	Orenburg
Penza	o	RU.PZ	PNZ	RS57	P	440	+3	1,386,186	1,452,941	43,200	16,700	Penza
Perm'	k	RU.PE	PER	RS90	P	614	+5	2,635,276	2,819,421	160,600	62,000	Perm'
Primor'ye	k	RU.PR	PRI	RS59	D	690	+10	1,956,497	2,071,210	165,900	64,100	Vladivostok
Pskov	o	RU.PS	PSK	RS60	V	180	+3	673,423	760,810	55,300	21,400	Pskov
Rostov	o	RU.RO	ROS	RS61	Y	344	+3	4,277,976	4,404,013	100,800	38,900	Rostov-na-Donu
Ryazan'	o	RU.RZ	RYA	RS62	T	390	+3	1,154,114	1,227,910	39,600	15,300	Ryazan'
Saint Petersburg City	g	RU.SP	SPE	RS66	V	193	+3	4,879,566	4,661,219	570	200	Saint Petersburg
Sakha	r	RU.SK	SA	RS63	D	677	+9	958,528	949,280	3,103,200	1,198,200	Yakutsk
Sakhalin	o	RU.SL	SAK	RS64	D	693	+11	497,973	546,695	87,100	33,600	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Samara	o	RU.SA	SAM	RS65	P	443	+4	3,215,532	3,239,737	53,600	20,700	Samara
Saratov	o	RU.SR	SAR	RS67	P	410	+4	2,521,892	2,668,310	100,200	38,700	Saratov
Smolensk	o	RU.SM	SMO	RS69	T	214	+3	985,537	1,049,574	49,800	19,200	Smolensk
Stavropol'	k	RU.ST	STA	RS70	K	355	+3	2,786,281	2,735,139	66,500	25,700	Stavropol'
Sverdlovsk	o	RU.SV	SVE	RS71	U	620	+5	4,297,747	4,486,214	194,800	75,200	Yekaterinburg
Tambov	o	RU.TB	TAM	RS72	T	392	+3	1,091,994	1,178,443	34,300	13,200	Tambov
Tatarstan	r	RU.TT	TA	RS73	P	420	+3	3,786,488	3,779,265	68,000	26,300	Kazan'
Tomsk	o	RU.TO	TOM	RS75	S	634	+7	1,047,394	1,046,039	316,900	122,400	Tomsk
Tula	o	RU.TL	TUL	RS76	T	300	+3	1,553,925	1,675,758	25,700	9,900	Tula
Tuva	r	RU.TU	TY	RS79	S	667	+7	307,930	305,510	170,500	65,800	Kyzyl
Tver'	o	RU.TV	TVE	RS77	T	170	+3	1,353,392	1,471,459	84,100	32,500	Tver'
Tyumen'	o	RU.TY	TYU	RS78	U	625	+5	1,340,608	1,325,018	161,800	62,500	Tyumen'
Udmurt	r	RU.UD	UD	RS80	P	426	+4	1,521,420	1,570,316	42,100	16,300	Izhevsk
Ul'yanovsk	o	RU.UL	ULY	RS81	P	423	+4	1,292,799	1,382,811	37,300	14,400	Ul'yanovsk
Vladimir	o	RU.VL	VLA	RS83	T	600	+3	1,443,693	1,523,990	29,000	11,200	Vladimir
Volgograd	o	RU.VG	VGG	RS84	Y	400	+3	2,610,161	2,699,223	114,100	44,100	Volgograd
Vologda	o	RU.VO	VLG	RS85	V	160	+3	1,202,444	1,269,568	145,700	56,300	Vologda
Voronezh	o	RU.VR	VOR	RS86	T	394	+3	2,335,380	2,378,803	52,400	20,200	Voronezh
Yamal-Nenets	a	RU.YN	YAN	RS87	U	626	+5	522,904	507,006	750,300	289,700	Salekhard
Yaroslavl'	o	RU.YS	YAR	RS88	T	150	+3	1,272,468	1,367,398	36,400	14,100	Yaroslavl'
Yevrey	b	RU.YV	YEV	RS89	D	682	+10	176,558	190,915	36,000	13,900	Birobidzhan
Zabaykal'ye	k	RU.ZB	ZAB	RS93	S	672	+9	1,107,107	1,155,346	431,500	166,600	Chita
83 subjects								142,856,536	145,166,731	16,975,824	6,554,200
Tp: b = autonomous region, a = autonomous province, g = federal city, k = territory, o = region, r = republic. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Subject codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "RU-" to the code (ex: RU-TUL represents Tula). FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Reg: Federal okrug containing the subject. For key, see table below. Post: First three digits of typical postal code (usually the capital). TZ: Time zone (hours offset from GMT). Some divisions are in more than one time zone. Pop-2010: 2010-10-14 census. Pop-2002: 2002-10-09 census.

 

Notes: Under the Soviet Union, some of these divisions were subordinate to others. They have been called "matryoshka regions" by analogy to nesting dolls - regions within regions. Under the 1993 constitution, the subordinate subdivisions were all promoted to full subject status. All the same, Russian census reports show the "composite districts" as units with their subordinate divisions indented below them. The following list shows subordination status as of about 1990. Regions marked with an asterisk (*) were still being treated as subordinate in the 2002 census; with two asterisks, in both the 2002 and 2010 censuses.

Subordinate subdivisions: Altay contained Gorno-Altay; Arkhangel'sk contained Nenets**; Chita contained Aga Buryat*; Irkutsk contained Ust-Orda Buryat*; Kamchatka contained Koryak*; Khabarovsk contained Yevrey; Krasnodar contained Adygey; Krasnoyarsk contained Evenk*, Khakass, and Taymyr*; Magadan contained Chukot; Perm' contained Komi-Permyak*; Stavropol' contained Karachay-Cherkess; Tyumen' contained Khanty-Mansiy** and Yamal-Nenets**. In each case, the composite district had some territory that was not in any of the contained entities.

President Putin divided Russia into seven federal okrugs, effective 2001-03. Each federal okrug has its own president's representative. The federal okrug is a intermediate structure between the federal government and the government of a federal subject. Here are some maps of the new okrugs: Clik  Clik  Map . They are:

Federal okrug	Reg	English	Capital	Population
Dal'nevostochnyy	D	Far Eastern	Khabarovsk	6,293,129
Privolzhskiy	P	Volga	Nizhniy Novgorod	29,899,699
Severo-Kavkazskiy'	K	North Caucasus	Pyatigorsk	9,428,826
Severo-Zapadnyy	V	Northwestern	Saint Petersburg	13,616,057
Sibirskiy	S	Siberian	Novosibirsk	19,256,426
Tsentral'nyy	T	Central	Moscow	38,427,539
Ural'skiy	U	Ural	Yekaterinburg	12,080,526
Yuzhnyy	Y	Southern	Rostov-na-Donu	13,854,334
Reg: Arbitrary one-letter okrug code. English: English translation of okrug name. Population: 2010-10-14 census.

Postal codes: 

Russia uses six-digit postal codes. The system hasn't been changed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, so blocks of codes used for the old union republics are no longer in use. The first three digits usually indicate the federal subject in which the code is located, but the system is complex, and I have only displayed representative codes for each subject.

Further subdivisions:

See the Raions of the Russian Federation page.

Territorial extent: 

1. Adygey is entirely surrounded by Krasnodar.
2. Arkhangel'sk includes the White Sea islands of Morzhovets, Solovetskiye, and Anzerskiy, and the Arctic island groups of Novaya Zemlya (New Land) and Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (Franz Joseph Land).
3. Astrakhan' includes Caspian Sea islands in the Volga River delta, such as Zyudev.
4. Chukot includes Ostrov Vrangelya (Wrangel Island) and Ayon Island in the Arctic Ocean.
5. Dagestan includes the Caspian Sea islands of Chechen and Tyuleniy.
6. Irkutsk includes Ol'khon Island in Lake Baykal.
7. Kaliningrad contains the northern end of the Baltiyskaya Kosa, a spit of land attached to the mainland in Poland. It is an exclave, since it is not adjacent to any other part of the Russian Federation, although it has access to Saint Petersburg by sea.
8. Kamchatka includes the Commander Islands and Karaginskiy Island.
9. Khabarovsk includes the Shantarskiye Ostrova (Shantar Islands), the biggest of which is Bol'shoy Shantar.
10. Krasnoyarsk includes the islands of Severnaya Zemlya (North Land): October Revolution Island, Komsomolets Island, Bolshevik Island, Pioneer Island, etc., and other islands along the Arctic coast as far west as Sibiryakova.
11. Leningrad includes islands in the Gulf of Finland: Bol'shoy Berezovyy, Gogland, Kotlin, Moshchnyy, etc.
12. Moscow City is entirely surrounded by Moskva region. It also has three small exclaves within Moskva region, one each containing the towns of Elino and Rasskazovka, and one north of Reutov.
13. Murmansk includes Kil'din Island.
14. Nenets includes Kolguyev and Vaygach Islands.
15. Primor'ye includes Ostrov Russkiy (Russian Island).
16. Sakha includes the Arctic islands and groups of Novosibirskiye Ostrova (New Siberian Islands), Lyakhovskiye Ostrova, and Bol'shoy Begichev.
17. Sakhalin consists of Sakhalin Island, the Kuril'skiye Ostrova (Kuril Islands), and adjacent islets. I count the southern Kuril Islands as part of this region. They are disputed with Japan. FIPS formerly described them as Etorofu, Habomai, Kunashiri, and Shikotan Islands, with a special code PJ. The FIPS code was revoked in 2013.
18. Samara has a tiny exclave inside Orenburg containing a village called Dal'niy, north of Buzuluk.
19. Yamal-Nenets includes the Arctic islands of Belyy, Oleniy, and others.

The UN LOCODE page  for Russian Federation lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Adygey: people of the sea, from Abkhazian adi: water
2. Altay: after the Altay Mountains, originally Turkic Altun: gold, Tagh: mountain
3. Amurskaya: after the Amur River, from Tungus amor: big river
4. Arkhangel'sk: named for a convent there, dedicated to the archangel Michael
5. Astrakhan: from Turkish haci: hajji (pilgrim to Mecca), tarhan: free from taxes
6. Belgorod: Russian byelo: white, gorod: city
7. Buryat: Mongol buriad: forest-dwelling people
8. Chuvash: ethnic name, from Turkic dzhyvash: peaceful
9. Dagestan: Turkish dag: mountain, Iranian ostan: land (land of mountains)
10. Ivanovo: named for Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (Ivan the Terrible = Ivan Groznyy)
11. Kaliningrad: city of (communist leader Mikhail Ivanovich) Kalinin, renamed from Königsberg in 1946
12. Kalmyk: after the ethnic name Kalmuk, from Mongolian kalimak: beyond the shore
13. Kamchatka: named by Semyon Dechnev in 1648 from Russian kamtsatka: a type of patterned cloth
14. Karelia: possibly from Finnish karja: herds
15. Khabarovsk: after Zherofey Pavlovich Khabarov, explorer of the area
16. Kirov: renamed from Vyatka in 1934 on the assassination of Kirov (Sergey Mironovich Kostrikov), communist leader
17. Komi: ethnic name, from Zyrian komi: men
18. Krasnodar: Russian krasniy: red, dar: gift, renamed from Yekaterinodar in 1920, as the Red Army displaced the tsars
19. Krasnoyarsk: shortened from Krasnoyarskiy Ostrov, from Russian krasniy: red, yar: bank, -skiy: adjectival suffix, ostrov: island (island with red clay banks)
20. Kurgan: Turkic for walled city
21. Leningrad: renamed in 1924, along with the city, in honor of Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, 1870-1924)
22. Mari: ethnic name, from Iranian word for men
23. Mordovia: from the ethnic name Mordvin
24. Moscow/Moskva: after the Moscow River (Moskva in Russian)
25. Murmansk: corruption of the Russian adjective for Normans or Norsemen
26. Nizhniy-Novgorod: Russian for lower Novgorod; Novgorod means new city (called Gorkiy 1932-1992)
27. North Ossetia: Northern part of Ossetia, from Georgian osi: ethnic name
28. Novgorod: Russian noviy: new, gorod: city
29. Omsk: Om (River) + -sk: adjectival suffix
30. Orenburg: Or (River) + German burg: fort, originally planned as a fort on the Or, but actually built elsewhere
31. Perm': probably from Finnish perä: back, maa: land (considered back country by the Finns) (called Molotov 1940-1957)
32. Primor'ye: Russian pri: by, morye: sea (seaside, maritime)
33. Rostov: after the capital, Rostov-na-Donu (Rostov on the Don), which was originally called Krepost Dmitriya Rostovskovo (fortress of Dmitri of Rostov), after the patron saint of its church, a native of a different city named Rostov
34. Sakhalin: the Manchus called the island Sakhalin anga hata, the island at the mouth of the Black River (meaning the Amur), simplified to Sakhalin (Black River)
35. Smolensk: adjectival form of Russian smola: pitch (area was a source of pitch for boats)
36. Stavropol: Byzantine Greek stavros: cross, polis: city (city of the cross)
37. Sverdlovsk: after revolutionary hero Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (Yekaterinburg before 1924 and after 1991)
38. Tatarstan: land of the Tatars (ethnic name used by the Mongols)
39. Tomsk: Tom (River) + -sk: adjectival suffix
40. Udmurt: after an ethnic name
41. Ul'yanovsk: after Lenin (nom de guerre of Vladimir Ilyich Ul'yanov (1870-1924))
42. Vladimir: after the city, named for its founder, Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125)
43. Volgogradskaya: after the city, from Volga (River) + grad: city
44. Voronezhskaya: after the Voronezh River, from Russian voron: crow
45. Yakutsk: inhabitants are Yakuts, from Yakut yeko: stranger
46. Yaroslavl': named for Iaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise, Prince of Kiev
47. Zabaykalsky: beyond (za) Lake Baikal

Change history: 

For additional information about the divisions of the Russian Empire/Soviet Union that are not included in the Russian Federation, see individual country listings.

1. According to source [5], in the 15th to 17th centuries, Russia's primary divisions were called uezd, and its secondary divisions, volost'. Tsar Peter the Great initiated a reform in the administrative geography of Russia, under which it was divided into guberniya, province, uezd, and volost'. In 1775, Catherine the Great introduced another reform, dividing the country into 41 guberniy, subdivided into uezd and volost'. A period of stability ensued, lasting until the 1917 revolution. The Bolshevik government imposed many changes. In 1920-24, a number of autonomous ethnic regions were created at all levels of the hierarchy. The guberniya was supplanted by the oblast', the uezd by the raion, and the volost' by the sel'soviet (rural council). In 1927-29, Stalin formed a set of okrugs by grouping oblasts. The okrugs were disbanded in the World War II period. Khrushchev did more or less the same thing in 1957, creating economic regions. These were disbanded when Khrushchev fell from power in 1964.
2. According to source [8], under Peter the Great, a set of eight guberniy was established in 1708. They were superseded in 1719 by a set of fifty provintsy (provinces), which were subdivided into districts.
3. Source [9] shows the population of the Russian Empire and its components according to the first general census, 1897-01-28. The columns show the division name, area in square versts, number of men, number of women, total population, and population density.
4. 1905: Japan acquired the southern half of Sakhalin Island and the Kwantung peninsula (now part of Liaoning province, China) from Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. The divisions of Russia before World War I were as follows:

Name	Russian name	Modern	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Åbo-Björneborg	Abo-B'yorneborgskaya G.	Finland/Turku ja Pori			Åbo
Akmolinsk	Akmolinskaya Obl.	Kazakhstan/Aqmola	1,064,000	225,074	Omsk
Amur	Amurskaya Obl.	Russia/Amur	230,200	154,795	Blagoveshchensk
Archangel	Arkhangel'skaya G.	Russia/Arkhangel'sk	449,400	326,063	Arkhangel'sk
Astrakhan	Astrakhanskaya G.	Russia/Astrakhan'	1,262,000	91,042	Astrakhan'
Baku	Bakinskaya G.	Azerbaijan	1,033,700	15,061	Baku
Batum	Batumskaya Obl.	Georgia/Adjaria	166,300	2,693	Batum
Bessarabia	Bessarabskaya G.	Moldova	2,490,200	17,143	Kishinev
Bokhara Khanate	Bukhara	Uzbekistan/Bukhara			Bokhara
Chernigov	Chernigovskaya G.	Ukraine/Chernigov	3,031,100	20,232	Chernigov
Courland	Kurlyandskaya G.	Latvia	749,100	10,435	Mitava
Dagestan	Dagestanskaya Obl.	Russia/Dagestan	689,300	11,471	Temir-Khan-Shura
Don Cossacks	Voyska Donskovo Obl.	Russia/Rostov	3,591,900	63,532	Novocherkassk
Elizabethpol	Yelisavetpol'skaya G.	Azerbaijan	1,021,900	16,991	Yelisavetpol'
Erivan	Erivanskaya G.	Armenia	971,200	10,725	Erivan'
Estonia	Estlyandskaya G.	Estonia	471,400	7,605	Revel'
Fergana	Ferganskaya Obl.	Uzbekistan/Ferghana	2,069,000	55,483	Skobelev
Grodno	Grodnenskaya G.	Belarus/Hrodna	1,974,400	14,896	Grodno
Irkutsk	Irkutskaya G.	Russia/Irkutsk	696,200	280,429	Irkutsk
Kalisz	Kalishskaya G.	Poland/Kalisz	1,183,800	4,377	Kalish
Kaluga	Kaluzhskaya G.	Russia/Kaluga	1,412,900	11,942	Kaluga
Kamchatka	Kamchatskaya Obl.	Russia/Kamchatka	37,300	502,424	Petropavlovsk
Kars	Karskaya Obl.	Turkey/Kars	377,200	7,239	Kars
Kazan	Kazanskaya G.	Russia/Tatarstan	2,749,200	24,587	Kazan'
Kharkov	Khar'kovskaya G.	Ukraine/Khar'kov	3,288,500	21,041	Khar'kov
Kherson	Khersonskaya G.	Ukraine/Nikolayev	3,495,600	27,337	Kherson
Khiva Khanate	Khiva	Uzbekistan/Kara-Kalpak			Khiva
Kielce	Keletskaya G.	Poland/Kielce	973,200	3,897	Kel'tsy
Kiev	Kievskaya G.	Ukraine/Kiyev	4,604,200	19,676	Kiev
Kostroma	Kostromskaya G.	Russia/Kostroma	1,723,700	32,432	Kostroma
Kovno	Kovenskaya G.	Lithuania	1,796,700	15,518	Kovno
Kuban	Kubanskaya Obl.	Russia/Krasnodar	2,731,100	36,645	Yekaterinodar
Kuopio	Kuopioskaya G.	Finland/Kuopio			Kuopio
Kursk	Kurskaya G.	Russia/Kursk	3,074,700	17,937	Kursk
Kutais	Kutaisskaya G.	Georgia	1,008,500	8,145	Kutais
Livonia	Liflyandskaya G.	Estonia, Latvia	1,466,900	17,574	Riga
Lomzha	Lomzhinskaya G.	Poland/Łomża	688,500	4,072	Lomzha
Lublin	Lyublinskaya G.	Poland/Lublin	1,556,600	6,499	Lyublin
Maritime	Primorskaya Obl.	Russia/Primor'ye	547,200	281,154	Khabarovsk
Minsk	Minskaya G.	Belarus/Minsk	2,868,900	35,220	Minsk
Mogilev	Mogilevskaya G.	Belarus/Mahilyow	2,261,500	18,514	Mogilev
Moscow	Moskovskaya G.	Russia/Moskva	3,257,200	12,847	Moskva
Nizhnii-Novgorod	Nizhegorodskaya G.	Russia/Nizhegorod	2,017,000	19,789	Nizhniy-Novgorod
Novgorod	Novgorodskaya G.	Russia/Novgorod	1,642,200	45,770	Novgorod
Nyland	Nyulandskaya G.	Finland/Uusimaa	3,084,000	125,689	Gel'singfors
Olonets	Olonetskaya G.	Russia/Karelia	448,700	49,355	Petrozavodsk
Orel	Orlovskaya G.	Russia/Orel	2,629,000	18,042	Orel
Orenburg	Orenburgskaya G.	Russia/Orenburg	2,093,200	73,254	Orenburg
Penza	Penzenskaya G.	Russia/Penza	1,829,700	14,997	Penza
Perm	Permskaya G.	Russia/Perm'	3,792,800	127,502	Perm'
Piotrkow	Pyotrokovskaya G.	Poland/Piotrków	1,981,300	4,730	Pyotrokov
Plotsk	Plotskaya G.	Poland/Płock	739,900	3,641	Plotsk
Podolia	Podol'skaya G.	Ukraine/Khmel'nits	3,812,000	16,224	Kamenets-Podol'sk
Poltava	Poltavskaya G.	Ukraine/Poltava	3,626,300	19,265	Poltava
Pskov	Pskovskaya G.	Russia/Pskov	1,373,300	16,678	Pskov
Radom	Radomskaya G.	Poland/Radom	1,112,200	4,769	Radom
Ryazan	Ryazanskaya G.	Russia/Ryazan'	2,510,200	16,190	Ryazan'
Saint Michel	Sankt-Mikhel'skaya G.	Finland/Mikkeli			Sankt-Mikhel'
Saint Petersburg	Sankt-Peterburgskaya G.	Russia/Leningrad	2,903,000	17,226	Sankt-Peterburg
Samara	Samarskaya G.	Russia/Samara	3,600,900	58,320	Samara
Samarkand	Samarkandskaya Obl.	Uzbekistan/Samarkand	1,183,600	26,627	Samarkand
Saratov	Saratovskaya G.	Russia/Saratov	3,125,400	32,624	Saratov
Semipalatinsk	Semipalatinskaya Obl.	Kazakhstan/Semey	848,900	178,320	Semipalatinsk
Semirechensk	Semirechenskaya Obl.	Kazakhstan/Almaty	1,210,100	144,550	Verniy
Siedlce	Sedletskaya G.	Poland/Siedlce	1,003,400	5,528	Siedlce
Simbirsk	Simbirskaya G.	Russia/Ul'yanovsk	1,961,500	19,110	Simbirsk
Smolensk	Smolenskaya G.	Russia/Smolensk	1,988,700	21,624	Smolensk
Stavropol	Stavropol'skaya G.	Russia/Stavropol'	1,273,400	20,970	Stavropol'
Sukhum	Sukhumskiy Okrug	Georgia/Abkhazia	271,500	5,765	Sukhum
Suwalki	Suvalkskaya G.	Poland/Suwałki	681,300	4,756	Suvalki
Syr Daria	Syr-Darinskaya Obl.	Kazakhstan/S. Kazakhstan	1,874,100	194,147	Tashkent
Tambov	Tambovskaya G.	Russia/Tambov	3,442,700	25,710	Tambov
Taurida	Tavricheskaya G.	Ukraine/Crimea	1,921,000	23,312	Simferopol'
Tavastehus	Tavastgusskaya G.	Finland/Häme			Tavastgus
Terek	Terskaya Obl.	Russia/Kalmyk	1,214,700	28,153	Vladikavkaz
Tiflis	Tiflisskaya G.	Georgia	1,183,300	15,776	Tiflis
Tobolsk	Tobol'skaya G.	Russia/Tyumen'	1,842,400	535,739	Tobol'sk
Tomsk	Tomskaya G.	Russia/Tomsk	3,228,300	327,173	Tomsk
Transbaikalia	Zabaykal'skaya Obl.	Russia/Chita	853,400	238,308	Chita
Transcaspian	Zakaspiyskaya Obl.	Turkmenistan	451,300	235,120	Askhabad
Tula	Tul'skaya G.	Russia/Tula	1,801,800	11,954	Tula
Turgay	Turgayskaya G.	Kazakhstan/Aqtöbe	624,000	169,832	Kustanay
Tver	Tverskaya G.	Russia/Tver'	2,213,800	24,975	Tver'
Ufa	Ufimskaya G.	Russia/Bashkortostan	2,942,900	47,109	Ufa
Uleåborg	Uleaborgskaya G.	Finland/Oulu			Uleaborg
Uralsk	Ural'skaya Obl.	Kazakhstan/W. Kazakhstan	782,300	137,679	Ural'sk
Vasa	Vazaskaya G.	Finland/Vaasa			Nikolaystad
Viborg	Vyborgskaya G.	Russia/Leningrad			Vyborg
Vilna	Vilenskaya G.	Lithuania, Belarus	1,957,000	16,181	Vil'no
Vitebsk	Vitebskaya G.	Latvia, Belarus/Vitsyebsk	1,850,700	16,983	Vitebsk
Vladimir	Vladimirskaya G.	Russia/Vladimir	1,918,200	18,821	Vladimir
Volhynia	Volynskaya G.	Ukraine/Volyn	3,920,400	27,699	Zhitomir
Vologda	Vologodskaya G.	Russia/Vologda	1,651,200	155,265	Vologda
Voronezh	Voronezhskaya G.	Russia/Voronezh	3,421,000	25,443	Voronezh
Vyatka	Vyatskaya G.	Russia/Kirov	3,806,800	59,329	Vyatka
Warsaw	Varshavskaya G.	Poland/Warszawa	2,547,100	6,749	Varshava
Yakutsk	Yakutskaya Obl.	Russia/Sakha	322,600	1,530,253	Yakutsk
Yaroslavl	Yaroslavskaya G.	Russia/Yaroslavl'	1,228,900	13,723	Yaroslavl'
Yekaterinoslav	Yekaterinoslavskaya G.	Ukraine/Dnepropetrovsk	3,138,200	24,477	Yekaterinoslav
Yeniseisk	Yeniseyskaya G.	Russia/Krasnoyarsk	961,600	981,607	Krasnoyarsk
Zakataly	Zakatal'skiy Okr.	Azerbaijan	95,100	1,539	Zakataly
101 divisions			167,003,000	8,417,118
Modern: the present-day country and division that best approximate the territory under the Russian Empire. In many cases the old division has been cut into several pieces since 1900. Population: 1911 estimate. Entire population and area of Finland is listed under Nyland.

1. There were also larger divisions called general-guberniy (general governments, or governor-generalships), comprising several oblasts or guberniyas. They included Caucasus, Finland, Kiev, and Warsaw (Poland).
2. 1914: Name of capital of Russia changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd.
3. 1917-07-20: Finland declared independence from the Russian Empire.
4. 1917: Erivan government became independent and took the name Armenia.
5. 1918: Capital of Russia moved from Petrograd to Moscow.
6. 1918-01-24: Bessarabia government declared independence.
7. 1918-02-16: Lithuania, consisting mainly of the governments of Kovno and parts of Vilna and Suwalki, declared independence.
8. 1918-02: Estonia, consisting of the government of Estonia and part of Livonia, declared independence.
9. 1918-03-03: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk allowed Germany to occupy Byelorussia, consisting of the governments of Minsk, Mogilev, most of Grodno, part of Vitebsk, and part of Vilna. Both Germany and Russia later renounced this treaty.
10. 1918-03: Capital of Russia moved from Petrograd to Moscow.
11. 1918-05-26: Georgia, consisting of the governments of Kars, Kutais, and Tiflis, declared independence.
12. 1918-05-28: Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, consisting of the governments of Baku, Elizabethpol, and Zakataly, declared independence.
13. 1918-07-10: Under a new constitution, Russia became the Russian (Rossiyskaya) S.F.S.R.
14. 1918-11-09: Poland, consisting of the Kingdom of Poland (a part of Russia, divided into the governments of Kalish, Kel'tsy, Lomzha, Lyublin, Petrokov, Plotsk, Radom, Sedlets, Suvalki, and Varshava) and parts of Germany and Austria, declared independence.
15. 1918-11-18: Latvia, consisting of the governments of Courland and parts of Livonia and Vitebsk, declared independence.
16. 1919-01-01: Byelorussian (Byelorusskaya) S.S.R. was declared. Its territory remained in dispute.
17. 1919-06-28: Treaty of Versailles signed. Poland's independence confirmed.
18. 1920-04-06: Far Eastern Republic (Dal'nye-Vostochnoy Respublika; capital Chita) formed from Amur, Kamchatka, Maritime, and Transbaikalia. It was nominally independent, although coastal areas were occupied by Japan.
19. 1920-08-26: Kirghiz A.S.S.R. formed from Akmolinsk, Semipalatinsk, Turgay, and Ural'sk regions, and the northern part of Transcaspian territory.
20. 1920-10-07: Poland occupied the southeastern part of Vilna, including the city of Vilnius.
21. 1921-03-18: Treaty of Riga between Poland and Russia divided Byelorussia into a western section, annexed to Poland, and an eastern section, the Byelorussian S.S.R. The latter contained almost all of Minsk and parts of Gomel', Mogilev, and Vitebsk.
22. 1921-04-11: Turkestan A.S.S.R. formed from Amu-Darya, Ferghana, Pamir, Samarkand, Semirechensk, and Syr Darya regions, and the southern part of Transcaspian.
23. 1922: Russia annexed the Transcaucasian Federation, which became the Transcaucasian S.S.R. (Armenia 1922-03-12, Azerbaijan 1922-12-30, Georgia 1922-12-15).
24. 1922-11-15: Far Eastern Republic merged with Russian S.F.S.R., becoming Far Eastern Obl.
25. 1922-12-30: Treaty of Union adopted, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) (capital Moscow). The constituent republics were Byelorussian S.S.R., Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (R.S.F.S.R.), Ukrainian S.S.R., and Transcaucasian S.S.R.
26. 1924-03-03: Byelorussian S.S.R. annexed the remainder of Mogilev and Vitebsk, and part of Gomel'.
27. 1924: Central Asian republics reorganized in the autumn to match nationalities more closely. The northern part of Turkestan was annexed to Kirghiz.
28. 1924: Kazakh A.S.S.R. formed by merging Kirghiz A.S.S.R. with most of Semirechensk and Syr Darya.
29. 1924: Moldavian A.S.S.R. split from Ukraine, consisting of Bessarabian territory on the left bank of the Dniestr River.
30. 1924: Name of Petrograd oblast and city changed to Leningrad.
31. 1924-10: Turkmen A.S.S.R. and Uzbek A.S.S.R. formed.
32. 1924-10-14: Kara-Kirghizskaya autonomous region, consisting of parts of Ferghana, Semirechensk, and Syr Darya, separated from Turkestan and became part of the Russian S.F.S.R.
33. 1925: Name of capital of Kara-Kirghizia changed from Pishpek to Frunze.
34. 1925-05: Status of Uzbek and Turkmen changed from A.S.S.R.s to S.S.R.s.
35. 1926-02-01: Status and name of Kara-Kirghizia changed to Kirghizskaya A.S.S.R.
36. 1926-12-06: Remaining part of Gomel' transferred from Russia to Byelorussia.
37. 1929: Capital of Kirghiz moved from Kzyl-Orda to Alma-Ata.
38. 1929-12: Status of Tadzhik changed from A.S.S.R. to S.S.R.
39. 1936-12-05: Under a new constitution, Transcaucasian S.S.R. split into Armenian S.S.R., Azerbaijan S.S.R., and Georgian S.S.R.; status of Kazakh and Kirghiz changed from A.S.S.R. to S.S.R.
40. 1936-12-05: Name and status of Kirghiz changed to Kazakh (Kazakhskaya) S.S.R.
41. 1938: Far Eastern territory split into Khabarovsk and Maritime territories.
42. 1939-09-17: The Soviet Union invaded Poland. By November, Poland had been divided between Germany and the Soviet Union. West Byelorussia (from Poland) merged with the Byelorussian S.S.R. The territory changed hands back and forth during the war. By 1946, Byelorussia had essentially the territory that is now Belarus.
43. 1940-03-12: Soviet Union gained about half of Kymen province (with the port of Viborg) and part of Kuopio from Finland.
44. 1940-03-31: Karelian A.S.S.R. merged with territory ceded by Finland to form Karelo-Finnish S.S.R.
45. 1940-06: Northern Bukovina ceded to Soviet Union by treaty.
46. 1940-08-02: Moldavian S.S.R. created by merging most of the conquered Bessarabian territory with half of the Moldavian A.S.S.R. Northern Bukovina, the other half of the Moldavian A.S.S.R., and part of Bessarabia, merged with Ukraine.
47. 1940-08: Soviet Union annexed the three Baltic republics: Lithuania (1940-08-03), Latvia (1940-08-05), and Estonia (1940-08-06). All three became S.S.R.s.
48. 1944: Tannu Tuva, independent from Mongolia since 1921-07-11 as the Urjanchai Republic, became an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union.
49. 1945-06-29: Soviet Union acquired Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia by treaty. It became the region of Transcarpathia within the Ukrainian S.S.R.
50. 1945-07-16: Potsdam Conference began. As a result, the northern part of East Prussia became Kaliningrad region of the Russian S.F.S.R. (1946-04-07). The Soviet Union recovered territory lost in the Russo-Polish War, annexing it to the republics of Byelorussia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
51. 1945-09-02: Former Russian territories reverted to the Soviet Union by Japan's surrender. They included the southern half of Sakhalin Island, Kwantung peninsula, and all of the Kuril Islands.
52. 1946: Crimean A.S.S.R. became an oblast (Krymskaya Oblast') of the Russian S.F.S.R.
53. 1946-07: Name of capital of Kaliningrad changed from Königsberg to Kaliningrad.
54. 1947-02-10: By Paris Peace Treaty, Finland ceded territory to the Soviet Union, including the strip of Lappi that had connected Finland to the Arctic Ocean around Petsamo. Bessarabia formally restored to the Soviet Union.
55. 1954-02-19: Crimea transferred from Russian S.F.S.R. to Ukrainian S.S.R.
56. 1955: Kwantung territory returned to China by the Soviet Union.
57. 1956-07-16: Karelo-Finnish S.S.R. became Karelian A.S.S.R., part of the Russian S.F.S.R.
58. 1958-07-07: Name of Buryat-Mongol A.S.S.R. changed to Buryat.
59. 1991-12-08: Commonwealth of Independent States formed.
60. 1991-12-25: Soviet Union officially dissolved. Its 15 constituent republics became independent countries. Many of them had already unilaterally declared independence in the preceding few months. The Russian S.F.S.R. became the Russian Federation. Its internal divisions were unchanged, except that A.S.S.R.s became simply republics.
61. 1992-03-31: Chukot split from Magadan, of which it had hitherto been a subordinate part. In 1991-02, the Chukchi legislature had seceded from Magadan, but this move was not acknowledged by the federal government. The Federation Treaty first recognized Chukot as a separate subject.
62. 1992-06: Chechen-Ingush republic split into Chechnya and Ingushetia by a law of the Russian Federation. Both have been fighting for independence, but are still considered part of Russia.
63. ~1994: Moscow City split from Moscow region; Saint Petersburg City split from Leningrad region.
64. 1995-12-28: Capital of Ingush republic moved from Nazran' to Magas. According to the Magas City Web page, the city was being built "in accordance with the Federal law of the Russian Federation (N 217-FZ issued December 28, 1995)." (See also source [7].)
65. 1997: Chechnya renamed its capital from Groznyy to Dzhokhar (Djovkhar Ghaala in Chechen), in honor of Dzhokhar Dudayev, president of the republic from 1991 until his death in 1996. The new name has not been appearing in reference works, probably because the international community still considers Chechnya part of Russia, and Russia still uses Groznyy.
66. 2001-03: President Vladimir Putin decreed a system of seven federal okrugs.
67. 2003-07-25: Official name of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug changed to Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug—Yugra.
68. 2005-12-01: Perm' territory formed by merging Perm' region and Komi-Permyak autonomous province, under a constitutional amendment. Before the merger, the codes for Perm' region were RU.PM (HASC), PER (ISO), RS58 (FIPS); for Komi-Permyak autonomous province, RU.KP (HASC), KOP (ISO), and RS35 (FIPS). The capital of Komi-Permyak was Kudymkar. The separate population and area of Komi Permyak were 136,076 (2002 census) and 32,900 km.² (12,700 mi.²).
69. 2007-01-01: Evenk and Taymyr autonomous provinces merged with Krasnoyarsk territory, following a referendum held on 2005-04-17. Before the merger, the codes for Evenk were RU.EN (HASC), EVE (ISO), and RS18 (FIPS). For Krasnoyarsk, they were RU.KY, KYA, and RS39, respectively. For Taymyr, they were RU.TM, TAY, and RS74. The postal codes for Evenk and Taymyr were in the 663 range. The populations of Evenk and Taymyr, according to the 2002 census, were 17,697 and 39,786; their areas were 767,600 and 862,100 km.²; and their capitals were Tura and Dudinka, respectively. East Siberian territory was under consideration as the name of the combined territory, but Krasnoyarsk territory won out.
70. 2007-07-01: Kamchatka region and Koryak autonomous province merged to form Kamchatka territory, following a referendum held on 2005-10-23. Before the merger, the codes for Koryak were RU.KR (HASC), KOR (ISO), and RS36 (FIPS). For Kamchatka the HASC code was RU.KA, and FIPS was RS26. The postal codes were in the 684 range. The population of Koryak, according to the 2002 census, was 25,157, its area was 301,500 km.², and its capital was Palana.
71. 2008-01-01: Ust-Orda Buryat autonomous province merged with Irkutsk region, following a referendum held on 2006-04-16. Before the merger, the codes for Ust-Orda Buryat were RU.UB (HASC), UOB (ISO), RS82 (FIPS), and 666 (Postal). Its population in the 2002 census was 135,327, its area 22,400 km.², and its capital was Ust'-Ordynskiy. I have combined those data with the rest of Irkutsk in the primary subdivisions table. Irkutsk's HASC code was RU.IR.
72. 2008-03-01: Chita region and Aga Buryat autonomous province merged to form Zabaykal'ye territory, following a referendum held on 2007-03-11. Before the merger, the codes for Aga Buryat were RU.AB (HASC), AGB (ISO), RS02 (FIPS), and 674 (Postal). Its population in the 2002 census was 72,213, its area 19,000 km.², and its capital was Aginskoye. Chita's HASC code was RU.CT, ISO CHI, and FIPS RS14. I have combined the data for Aga Buryat and Chita in the entry for Zabaykal'ye in the main table.
73. 2010-01-19: President Dmitri Medvedev decreed that the North Caucusus federal okrug would be split from the Southern federal okrug, of which it formerly formed a part.

Other names of subdivisions: 

Since Chechnya is in the news currently, it might be useful to know some of its alternate names. Its formal Russian name, transliterated, is Chechenskaya Respublika. Translated into English, this is Chechen Republic. Informal names in other languages include Cecenia (Italian), Chechenia (Spanish), Chechênia, Tchetchnia (Portuguese), Chechnya-Ichkeria (variant), Noxçiyçö (Chechen), Tchétchénie (French), Tjetjenien (Danish, Swedish), Tschetschenien (German), Tsjetsjenia, Tsjetsjenja-Itsjkeria (Norwegian), Tsjetsjenië (Dutch). On 1994-01-19, Dzhokhar Dudayev decreed that the official name of the republic would be Chechnya-Ichkeriya.

Under the Soviet Union, Chechnya was part of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The Russian name of this entity was Checheno-Ingushskaya Avtonomnaya Sovyetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika. Informal names included Checheno-Ingushetia (English), République autonome de Tchétchéno-Ingouchie (French), Tchetchen-Ingush (Portuguese), Tschetscheno-Inguschetien, Tschetscheno-Inguschien (German).

The name of the capital of Chechnya is Groznyy, which is a Russian adjective meaning "threatening, formidable". Tsar Ivan IV, known in the English-speaking world as "Ivan the Terrible", was Ivan Groznyy to the Russians.

In 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Chechen parliament moved to split Checheno-Ingushetia into two republics. The separation was a "velvet divorce", as happened in Czechoslovakia likewise.

The other part of Checheno-Ingushetia became the Ingush Republic, also known as Galgay Respublika (Ingush), Ingouchie (French), Inguchétia (Portuguese), Inguschetien (German), Ingushetia, Ingushetiya (variant), Ingushskaya Respublika (Russian), República de los Ingushes (Spanish).

Note: There are many ways of transliterating from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Roman. The methods used tend to be specific to a target language. For example, English speakers normally transliterate the Russian word for emperor as tsar; German speakers render it czar. Both transliterations are intended to transcribe the sounds of Russian so that the reader will be able to approximate them. Here are some consistent patterns that you will observe in alternative transliterations. The letter or cluster of letters that I use appears first, followed by some other possibilities, tagged with cues to the context in which these alternatives might be used. The tag "(Slavic)" refers to Eastern European languages written in the Roman alphabet. Serbian and Croatian are essentially the same language, written with Cyrillic letters by Serbs and Roman letters by Croats. There is a direct substitution of letters used for converting between Serb and Croatian that defines the Slavic transliteration. The Slavic seems to be gaining acceptance as a language-neutral Romanization.

1. kh: x; j; ch (German); h (Slavic)
2. ch: tch (French, Portuguese); tsch (German); c or ci (Italian); č (Slavic); tsj (Norwegian)
3. sh: ch (French); š (Slavic); sch (German); sj (Norwegian)
4. dzh: j; g (Italian, before e or i)
5. zh: ž (Slavic); j (French, Portuguese); zj (Norwegian)
6. ts: c, z, tz, or cz (German); c (Slavic)
7. v: f, ff (older); w (German)
8. y: i, no letter; j (German, Slavic)
9. z: s (German)
10. ': y, no letter

Ordinarily, Russian sources use the adjectival form of the name, followed by the type of division. Several of the capital names were changed to honor heroes of the Soviet Union, and then changed back to their original names when the heroes fell from favor, or when the Soviet Union shut down.

1. Adygey: Adygea, Adygeya, Adygheya, Republic of Adygeya (variant); Adygeyskaya A.Obl. (obsolete); Республика Адыгея (Russian)
2. Aga Buryat: Aga-Buryatiya, Agin-Buryat, Agino-Buryatiya, Aginsk A.Okr. (variant); Агинский Бурятский автономный округ (Russian)
3. Altay: Алтайский край (Russian)
4. Amur: Амурская область (Russian)
5. Arkhangel'sk: Arcangelo (Italian); Archangel, Archangelsk (variant); Архангельская область (Russian)
6. Astrakhan': Astrachan (variant); Астраханская область (Russian)
7. Bashkortostan: Bashkir, Bashkiriya, Bashkirskaya A.S.S.R., Republic of Bashkortostan (variant); Ufa, Ufimskaya G. (obsolete); Республика Башкортостан (Russian)
8. Belgorod: Белгородская область (Russian)
9. Bryansk: Брянская область (Russian)
10. Buryat: Buryatiya, Buryat-Mongol A.S.S.R., Republic of Buryatia (variant); Buryatskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Республика Бурятия (Russian)
11. Chechnya: Cecenia (Italian), Chechenia (Spanish), Chechênia, Tchetchnia (Portuguese), Chechen-Ingush A.S.S.R., Checheno-Ingushetia, Checheno-Ingushskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Chechen Republic, Chechnya-Ichkeria (variant); Tchétchénie (French), Tjetjenien (Danish, Swedish), Tschetschenien (German), Tsjetsjenia, Tsjetsjenja-Itsjkeria (Norwegian), Tsjetsjenië (Dutch).; Чеченская Республика, Чечня (Russian)
12. Chelyabinsk: Челябинская область (Russian)
13. Chukot: Chukchi A.Okr. (variant); Çukot (Turkish); Tsjuktsji (Norwegian); Чукотский автономный округ (Russian)
14. Chuvash: Chuvashskaya Respublika, Chuvashiya, Chuvash Republic (variant); Tsjuvasjija (Norwegian); Чувашия, Чувашская Республика (Russian)
15. Dagestan: Dagestanskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Daghestan, Republic of Dagestan (variant); Dağistan (Turkish); Республика Дагестан (Russian)
16. Evenk: Evenki (variant); Эвенкийский автономный округ (Russian)
17. Gorno-Altay: Oirot (obsolete); Republic of Altai (variant); Республика Горный Алтай, Республика Алтай (Russian)
18. Ingush: Ingouchie (French), Inguchétia (Portuguese), Inguschetien (German), Ingushetia, Ingushetiya, Ingush Republic (variant); República de los Ingushes (Spanish).; Ингушская Республика, Республика Ингушетия (Russian)
19. Irkutsk: Иркутская область (Russian)
20. Ivanovo: Ивановская область (Russian)
21. Kabardin-Balkar: Kabardin A.S.S.R., Kabardino-Balkarskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Kabardino-Balkariya, Kabardino-Balkarsk (variant); Кабардино-Балкарская Республика, Кабардино-Балкария (Russian)
22. Kaliningrad: Калининградская область (Russian)
23. Kalmyk: Kalmykiya, Khalmg Tangch, Republic of Kalmykia (variant); Kalmytskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Республика Калмыкия (Russian); Хальмг Тангч (Russian-variant)
24. Kaluga: Калужская область (Russian)
25. Kamchatka: Kamçatka (Turkish); Камчатский край (Russian)
26. Karachay-Cherkess: Karaçay-Çerkes (Turkish); Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, Karachayevo-Cherkess Republic (variant); Karatsjajevo-Tsjerkessija (Norwegian); Карачаево-Черкесия, Карачаево-Черкесская Республика (Russian)
27. Karelia: Karelian A.S.S.R., Karelo-Finnish A.S.S.R., Karel'skaya A.S.S.R., Olonets, Olonetskaya G. (obsolete); Kareliya, Republic of Karelia (variant); Республика Карелия (Russian)
28. Kemerovo: Кемеровская область (Russian)
29. Khabarovsk: Хабаровский край (Russian)
30. Khakass: Khakassiya, Republic of Khakasia (variant); Khakasskaya A.Obl. (obsolete); Республика Хакасия (Russian)
31. Khanty-Mansiy: Khanty-Mansiysk (variant); Khanty-Mansiyskiy A.Okr.; Ханты-Мансийский автономный округ, Ханты-Мансийский—Югра (Russian)
32. Kirov: Vyatka, Vyatskaya G. (obsolete); Кировская область (Russian)
33. Komi-Permyak: Коми-Пермяцкий автономный округ (Russian)
34. Komi: Komi A.S.S.R., Republic of Komi (variant); Республика Коми (Russian)
35. Koryak: Корякский автономный округ (Russian)
36. Kostroma: Костромская область (Russian)
37. Krasnodar: Cossacks of the Black Sea, Kuban, Kubanskaya Obl., Yekaterinodar (obsolete); Краснодарский край (Russian)
38. Krasnoyarsk: Yeniseisk, Yeniseyskaya G. (variant); Красноярский край (Russian)
39. Kurgan: Курганская область (Russian)
40. Kursk: Курская область (Russian)
41. Leningrad: Saint Petersburg, Sankt-Peterburgskaya G. (obsolete); Ленинградская область (Russian)
42. Lipetsk: Липецкая область (Russian)
43. Magadan: Магаданская область (Russian)
44. Mariy-El: Mari, Mari-El, Republic of Mari El (variant); Mariyskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Марийская АССР (Russian-obsolete); Республика Марий Эл (Russian)
45. Mordovia: Mordov, Mordvian Autonomous Republic, Mordvinia, Republic of Mordovia (variant); Mordovian A.S.S.R., Mordovskaya A.S.S.R., Mordva A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Мордовская АССР, Республика Мордовия (Russian)
46. Moscow City: город Москва (Russian)
47. Moskva: Mosca (Italian); Moscou (French, Portuguese); Moscow (variant); Moscú (Spanish); Moskau (German); Moskova (Turkish); Moskvuborg (Icelandic); Московская область (Russian)
48. Murmansk: Мурманская область (Russian)
49. Nenets: Nenetsija (Norwegian); Ненецкий автономный округ (Russian)
50. Nizhegorod: Gor'kiy, Gor'kovskaya Obl., Gorky (obsolete); Nizhniy-Novgorod (variant); Горьковская область (Russian-obsolete); Нижегородская область (Russian)
51. North Ossetia: Kuzey Osetya (Turkish); Nord Osetija-Alanija (Norwegian); North Ossetian A.S.S.R., Severo-Osetinskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); North Osetiya-Alaniya, Republic of North Ossetia (variant); Республика Северная Осетия-Алания, Северо-Осетинская ССР (Russian)
52. Novgorod: Новгородская область (Russian)
53. Novosibirsk: Новосибирская область (Russian)
54. Omsk: Омская область (Russian)
55. Orel: Or'ol, Oryol (variant); Орловская область (Russian)
56. Orenburg: Chkalov (obsolete); Оренбургская область (Russian)
57. Penza: Пензенская область (Russian)
58. Perm': Molotov (obsolete); Пермский край (Russian)
59. Primor'ye: Küsten-Gebiet (German); Maritime Territory, Primorsk (variant); Приморский край (Russian)
60. Pskov: Псковская область (Russian)
61. Rostov: Province of the Don Cossacks, Provinz des Donischen Heeres, Voyska Donskovo Obl. (obsolete); Ростовская область (Russian)
62. Ryazan': Рязанская область (Russian)
63. Saint Petersburg City: Pietari (Finnish); Saint-Pétersbourg (French); Sankt Petersburg (German, Norwegian); San Pietroburgo (Italian); город Санкт-Петербург (Russian)
64. Sakha: Jakutija (Norwegian-obsolete); Republic of Sakha, Yakutia-Sakha, Yakutsk (variant); Yakut A.S.S.R., Yakutskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Республика Саха, Якутия (Russian)
65. Sakhalin: Сахалинская область (Russian)
66. Samara: Kuybyshev, Kuybyshevskaya Obl. (obsolete); Самарская область (Russian)
67. Saratov: Саратовская область (Russian)
68. Smolensk: Смоленская область (Russian)
69. Stavropol': Ставропольский край (Russian)
70. Sverdlovsk: Yekaterinburg (obsolete); Свердловская область (Russian)
71. Tambov: Тамбовская область (Russian)
72. Tatarstan: Kazan, Kazanskaya G., Tatar A.S.S.R., Tatarskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Republic of Tatarstan (variant); Республика Татарстан (Russian)
73. Taymyr: Dolgan-Nenets, Dolgano-Nenetskiy A.Okr. (variant); Таймырский (Долгано-Ненецкий) автономный округ (Russian)
74. Tomsk: Томская область (Russian)
75. Tula: Тульская область (Russian)
76. Tuva:, Republic of Tuva, Tyva (variant); Tuvinskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Республика Тува, Тыва (Russian)
77. Tver': Kalinin, Kalininskaya Obl. (obsolete); Тверская область (Russian)
78. Tyumen': Tobol'sk, Tobol'skaya G. (obsolete); Тюменская область (Russian)
79. Udmurt: Udmurtiya, Udmurt Republic (variant); Udmurtskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Удмуртия, Удмуртская Республика (Russian)
80. Ul'yanovsk: Simbirsk, Simbirskaya G. (obsolete); Ульяновская область (Russian)
81. Ust-Orda Buryat: Ust'-Ordynsk Buryat A.Okr. (variant); Усть-Ордынский Бурятский автономный округ (Russian)
82. Vladimir: Владимирская область (Russian)
83. Volgograd: Stalingrad (obsolete); Волгоградская область (Russian)
84. Vologda: Вологодская область (Russian)
85. Voronezh: Воронежская область (Russian)
86. Yamal-Nenets: Jamalo-Nenetsija (Norwegian); Ямало-Ненецкий автономный округ (Russian)
87. Yaroslavl': Ярославская область (Russian)
88. Yevrey: Den jødiske autonome oblasten (Norwegian); Evrey, Jewish A.Obl. (variant); Provincia autônoma dos Judeus (Portuguese); Yahudi (Turkish); Еврейская автономная область (Russian)
89. Yuzhnyy: Severo-Kavkazskiy (obsolete); North Caucasian (obsolete-English).
90. Zabaykal'ye: Chita (obsolete); Transbaikalia, Zabaykal'skaya Obl. (obsolete); Transbaikalien (German); Забайкальский край (Russian); Читинская область (Russian-obsolete)

Population history of the U.S.S.R.:

Name	1926	1939	1959	1970	1989	Area(km.²)	Capital
Armenia	870,700	1,282,000	1,768,000	2,492,000	3,283,000	29,800	Yerevan
Azerbaidzhan	2,312,000	3,205,000	3,700,000	5,117,000	7,029,000	86,600	Baku
Byelorussia	4,983,900	8,910,000	8,060,000	9,002,000	10,200,000	207,600	Minsk
Estonia			1,196,000	1,356,000	1,573,000	45,100	Tallinn
Georgia	2,668,000	3,540,000	4,049,000	4,686,000	5,449,000	69,700	Tbilisi
Kazakhstan		6,094,000	9,301,000	12,849,000	16,538,000	2,717,300	Alma-Ata
Kirghizia		1,458,000	2,063,000	2,933,000	4,291,000	198,500	Frunze
Latvia			2,094,000	2,364,000	2,681,000	63,700	Riga
Lithuania			2,713,000	3,128,000	3,690,000	65,200	Vilnius
Moldavia			2,880,000	3,569,000	4,341,000	33,700	Kishinev
Russia	100,858,000	108,379,000	117,494,000	130,079,000	147,386,000	17,075,400	Moscow
Tadzhikistan	822,600	1,484,000	1,982,000	2,900,000	5,112,000	143,100	Dushanbe
Turkmenistan	1,030,500	1,252,000	1,520,000	2,159,000	3,534,000	488,100	Ashkhabad
Ukraine	29,020,300	40,469,000	41,893,000	47,126,000	51,704,000	603,700	Kiev
Uzbekistan	4,447,600	6,336,000	8,113,000	11,960,000	19,906,000	447,400	Tashkent
15 republics	147,013,600	182,409,000	208,826,000	241,720,000	286,717,000	22,274,900

 

Populations are by census except for 1939, which are estimated.

Sources: 

1. [1] Territory and Administration in Europe. Robert Bennett, ed. Pinter Publishers, London and New York, 1989.
2. [2] Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States 1992. Europa Publications Ltd., London, 1992.
3. [3] Атлас СССР 1984.
4. [4] Statistical Abstract. Moscow, 1998. / Статистический сборник. Москва, 1998.
5. [5] "A History of Russian Administrative Boundaries" (retrieved 2004-03-27 at http://www.ihst.ru/personal/imerz/bound/russia_report1.htm, no longer accessible). It had an accompanying map at http://www.ihst.ru/personal/imerz/bound/plate6.jpg, showing the guberniy prevailing from 1914 to 1917.
6. [6] List of name changes  of Russian cities (in Russian; retrieved 2001-07-29).
7. [7] Magas - "Sun City"  (in Russian; retrieved 2003-06-22).
8. [8] Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, 1984. Vol. 14, p. 159.
9. [9] Demoscope Weekly  (retrieved 2008-10-14).
10. [10] "The Territories of the Russian Federation." Europa Publications.
11. [11] Всероссийская Перепись Населения  (All-Russian Population Census): Table 4. Численность городского и сельского населения по полу по субъектам Российской Федерации (Urban and rural population by sex and by subject of the Russian Federation) (retrieved 2014-04-03).
12. [12] Федеральный закон  (Federal law) No. 248-Ф3 (retrieved 2014-07-23).
13. [13] Федеральный закон  (Federal law) No. 109-Ф3 (retrieved 2016-04-26).
14. [14] Федеральный закон  (Federal law) No. 453-FZ (retrieved 2015-12-30).
15. [15] Федеральный закон  (Federal law) No. 59-FZ (retrieved 2016-03-09).
16. [16] Saratov, Russia changes time zone  (retrieved 2017-06-30).