Subjects of Russia

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Updates: 

According to Julia Kusznir, writing in the Russian Analytical Digest of 2008-06-17, there are several local proposals for new mergers. Kemerovo region could merge with Altay territory and Gorno-Altay republic. Moscow city could merge with Moscow region; St. Petersburg city with Leningrad region, forming Baltic territory. Chechen republic could merge with Stavropol' territory. A proposal to merge Adygey republic with Krasnodar territory is apparently stalled.

Chita region and Aga Buryat autonomous province held a merger referendum on 2007-03-11. It passed, and the merger took place on 2008-03-01. The result of the merger is Zabaykalsky territory. (Zabaykalsky is a representation of the adjective form of the name, which is the most common in Russian; I haven't yet found the correct noun form.)

The merger of Irkutsk and Ust-Orda Buryat was approved by a referendum held on 2006-04-16. The combined subdivision will still be called Irkutsk region, although the name Pribaikalsky territory was considered. The merger took effect on 2008-01-01.

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. The table has been updated accordingly. 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. No change in the table below is necessary for this update. FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 11, dated 2006-07-11, has assigned a new FIPS code to the newly merged Perm' territory, as shown below.

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.

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 .

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 had the wrong time zone listed in the book. All of these problems have been fixed in the table below. Boldface entries indicate changes that should be made to the book.

Country overview: 

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: Rossiya, Rossiiskaya Federatsiya (formal)
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. Spanish: Unión f de Repúblicas fp Socialistas Soviéticas, U.R.S.S., Unión Soviética
8. Swedish: Sovjet-Unionen
9. 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.

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, the 2002 census results 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.

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.

These are the federal okrugs.

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.
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 the Arctic islands and groups of Novaya Zemlya (New Land), Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (Franz Joseph Land), Kolguyev, and Vaygach.
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.
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.

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. Tom Christoffel pointed out to me a report  on "A History of Russian Administrative Boundaries". Here is a summary of its contents relevant to this page. 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 gubernia, 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. This map  shows the guberniy prevailing from 1914 to 1917. The Bolshevik government imposed many changes. In 1920-24, a number of autonomous ethnic regions were created at all levels of the hierarchy. The gubernia 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. The Encyclopædia Britannica sheds more light on Peter the Great's reforms. It says that a set of eight guberny was established in 1708. They were superseded in 1719 by a set of fifty provintsy (provinces), which were subdivided into districts.
3. 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:

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)." The Russian-language Web site "I go to the geography lesson" , a teachers' resource, says that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on 2000-12-26 titled "An appropriation for the capital of the Ingush Republic, Magas". Thanks to Linda Motskyla for providing these links.
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. 2003-07-25: Official name of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug changed to Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-–Yugra.
67. 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).
68. 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.
69. 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.
70. 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.
71. 2008-03-01: Chita region and Aga Buryat autonomous province merged to form Zabaykalsky 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 Zabaykalsky in the main table.

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).

Here  is a list of old and new names of cities in the former U.S.S.R., in Russian.

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); Respublika Adygeya (Russian)
2. Aga Buryat: Aga-Buryatiya, Agin-Buryat, Agino-Buryatiya, Aginsk A.Okr. (variant); Aginskiy Buryatskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
3. Altay: Altayskiy Kray (Russian)
4. Amur: Amurskaya Obl. (Russian)
5. Arkhangel'sk: Arcangelo (Italian); Archangel, Archangelsk (variant); Arkhangel'skaya Obl. (Russian)
6. Astrakhan': Astrachan (variant); Astrakhanskaya Obl. (Russian)
7. Bashkortostan: Bashkir, Bashkiriya, Bashkirskaya A.S.S.R., Republic of Bashkortostan (variant); Respublika Bashkortostan (Russian); Ufa, Ufimskaya G. (obsolete)
8. Belgorod: Belgorodskaya Obl. (Russian)
9. Bryansk: Bryanskaya Obl. (Russian)
10. Buryat: Buryatiya, Buryat-Mongol A.S.S.R., Republic of Buryatia (variant); Buryatskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Respublika Buryatiya (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); Chechenskaya Respublika (Russian); Tchétchénie (French), Tjetjenien (Danish, Swedish), Tschetschenien (German), Tsjetsjenia, Tsjetsjenja-Itsjkeria (Norwegian), Tsjetsjenië (Dutch).
12. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinskaya Obl. (Russian)
13. Chukot: Chukchi A.Okr. (variant); Chukotskiy A.Okr. (Russian); Çukot (Turkish); Tsjuktsji (Norwegian)
14. Chuvash: Chuvashskaya A.S.S.R. (Russian); Chuvashskaya Respublika, Chuvashiya, Chuvash Republic (variant); Tsjuvasjija (Norwegian)
15. Dagestan: Dagestanskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Daghestan, Republic of Dagestan (variant); Respublika Dagestan (Russian); Dağistan (Turkish)
16. Evenk: Evenki (variant); Evenkiyskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
17. Gorno-Altay: Gorno-Altayskaya A.Obl., Respublika Altay (Russian); Oirot (obsolete); Republic of Altai (variant)
18. Ingush: Ingouchie (French), Inguchétia (Portuguese), Inguschetien (German), Ingushetia, Ingushetiya, Ingush Republic (variant); Ingushskaya Respublika, Respublika Ingushetiya (Russian); República de los Ingushes (Spanish).
19. Irkutsk: Irkutskaya Obl. (Russian)
20. Ivanovo: Ivanovskaya Obl. (Russian)
21. Kabardin-Balkar: Kabardin A.S.S.R., Kabardino-Balkarskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Kabardino-Balkariya, Kabardino-Balkarsk (variant); Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika (Russian)
22. Kaliningrad: Kaliningradskaya Obl. (Russian)
23. Kalmyk: Kalmykiya, Khalmg Tangch, Republic of Kalmykia (variant); Kalmytskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Respublika Kalmykiya (Russian)
24. Kaluga: Kaluzhskaya Obl. (Russian)
25. Kamchatka: Kamçatka (Turkish); Kamchatskiy Kray (Russian)
26. Karachay-Cherkess: Karaçay-Çerkes (Turkish); Karachay-Cherkessiya, Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Respublika (Russian); Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, Karachayevo-Cherkess Republic (variant); Karatsjajevo-Tsjerkessija (Norwegian)
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); Respublika Kareliya (Russian)
28. Kemerovo: Kemerovskaya Obl. (Russian)
29. Khabarovsk: Khabarovskiy Kray (Russian)
30. Khakass: Khakassiya, Republic of Khakasia (variant); Khakasskaya A.Obl. (obsolete); Respublika Khakasiya (Russian)
31. Khanty-Mansiy: Khanty-Mansiysk (variant); Khanty-Mansiyskiy A.Okr., Khanty-Mansiyskiy A.Okr.-Yugra (Russian)
32. Kirov: Vyatka, Vyatskaya G. (obsolete); Kirovskaya Obl. (Russian)
33. Komi: Komi A.S.S.R., Republic of Komi (variant); Respublika Komi (Russian)
34. Komi-Permyak: Komi-Permyatskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
35. Koryak: Koryakskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
36. Kostroma: Kostromskaya Obl. (Russian)
37. Krasnodar: Cossacks of the Black Sea, Kuban, Kubanskaya Obl., Yekaterinodar (obsolete); Krasnodarskiy Kray (Russian)
38. Krasnoyarsk: Krasnoyarskiy Kray (Russian); Yeniseisk, Yeniseyskaya G. (variant)
39. Kurgan: Kurganskaya Obl. (Russian)
40. Kursk: Kurskaya Obl. (Russian)
41. Leningrad: Saint Petersburg, Sankt-Peterburgskaya G. (obsolete); Leningradskaya Obl. (Russian)
42. Lipetsk: Lipetskaya Obl. (Russian)
43. Magadan: Magadanskaya Obl. (Russian)
44. Mariy-El: Mari, Mari-El, Republic of Mari El (variant); Mariyskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Respublika Mariy El (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); Respublika Mordoviya (Russian)
46. Moskva: Mosca (Italian); Moscou (French, Portuguese); Moscow (variant); Moscú (Spanish); Moskau (German); Moskova (Turkish); Moskovskaya Obl. (Russian)
47. Murmansk: Murmanskaya Obl. (Russian)
48. Nenets: Nenetsija (Norwegian); Nenetskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
49. Nizhegorod: Gor'kiy, Gor'kovskaya Obl., Gorky (obsolete); Nizhegorodskaya Obl. (Russian); Nizhniy-Novgorod (variant)
50. 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); Respublika Severnaya Osetiya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya (Russian)
51. Novgorod: Novgorodskaya Obl. (Russian)
52. Novosibirsk: Novosibirskaya Obl. (Russian)
53. Omsk: Omskaya Obl. (Russian)
54. Orel: Orlovskaya Obl. (Russian); Or'ol, Oryol (variant)
55. Orenburg: Chkalov (obsolete); Orenburgskaya Obl. (Russian)
56. Penza: Penzenskaya Obl. (Russian)
57. Perm': Molotov (obsolete); Permskiy Kray (Russian)
58. Primor'ye: Küsten-Gebiet (German); Maritime Territory, Primorsk (variant); Primorskiy Kray (Russian)
59. Pskov: Pskovskaya Obl. (Russian)
60. Rostov: Province of the Don Cossacks, Provinz des Donischen Heeres, Voyska Donskovo Obl. (obsolete); Rostovskaya Obl. (Russian)
61. Ryazan': Ryazanskaya Obl. (Russian)
62. Saint Petersburg City: Saint-Pétersbourg (French); Sankt-Peterburg (Russian); Sankt Petersburg (German, Norwegian); San Pietroburgo (Italian)
63. Sakha: Jakutija (Norwegian-obsolete); Republic of Sakha, Yakutia-Sakha, Yakutsk (variant); Yakut A.S.S.R., Yakutskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Respublika Sakha (Russian)
64. Sakhalin: Sakhalinskaya Obl. (Russian)
65. Samara: Kuybyshev, Kuybyshevskaya Obl. (obsolete); Samarskaya Obl. (Russian)
66. Saratov: Saratovskaya Obl. (Russian)
67. Smolensk: Smolenskaya Obl. (Russian)
68. Stavropol': Stavropol'skiy Kray (Russian)
69. Sverdlovsk: Sverdlovskaya Obl. (Russian); Yekaterinburg (obsolete)
70. Tambov: Tambovskaya Obl. (Russian)
71. Tatarstan: Kazan, Kazanskaya G., Tatar A.S.S.R., Tatarskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Republic of Tatarstan (variant); Respublika Tatarstan (Russian)
72. Taymyr: Dolgan-Nenets, Dolgano-Nenetskiy A.Okr. (variant); Taymyrskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
73. Tomsk: Tomskaya Obl. (Russian)
74. Tula: Tul'skaya Obl. (Russian)
75. Tuva: Respublika Tyva (Russian), Republic of Tuva, Tyva (variant); Tuvinskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete)
76. Tver': Kalinin, Kalininskaya Obl. (obsolete); Tverskaya Obl. (Russian)
77. Tyumen': Tobol'sk, Tobol'skaya G. (obsolete); Tyumenskaya Obl. (Russian)
78. Udmurt: Udmurtiya, Udmurt Republic (variant); Udmurtskaya A.S.S.R. (obsolete); Udmurtskaya Respublika (Russian)
79. Ul'yanovsk: Simbirsk, Simbirskaya G. (obsolete); Ul'yanovskaya Obl. (Russian)
80. Ust-Orda Buryat: Ust'-Ordynsk Buryat A.Okr. (variant); Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
81. Vladimir: Vladimirskaya Obl. (Russian)
82. Vologda: Vologodskaya Obl. (Russian)
83. Volgograd: Stalingrad (obsolete); Volgogradskaya Obl. (Russian)
84. Voronezh: Voronezhskaya Obl. (Russian)
85. Yamal-Nenets: Jamalo-Nenetsija (Norwegian); Yamalo-Nenetskiy A.Okr. (Russian)
86. Yaroslavl': Yaroslavskaya Obl. (Russian)
87. Yevrey: Den jødiske autonome oblasten (Norwegian); Evrey, Jewish A.Obl. (variant); Provincia autônoma dos Judeus (Portuguese); Yahudi (Turkish); Yevreyskaya A.Obl. (Russian)
88. Yuzhnyy: Severo-Kavkazskiy (obsolete); North Caucasian (obsolete-English).
89. Zabaykalsky: Chita (obsolete); Chitinskaya Obl. (Russian-obsolete); Transbaikalia, Zabaykal'skaya Obl. (obsolete); Transbaikalien (German)

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

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