Russia is a federation which consists of 88 subjects (; English transliteration: subyekty, sing. subyekt). These subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament. However, they do differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Most of the autonomous districts, while federal subjects in their own right, are at the same time part of other federal subjects (Chukotka is an exception).

Subjects of the Russian Federation

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Each subject of the federation belongs to one of the following categories:

	21 republics (, sing. ; respubliki, sing. respublika)—nominally autonomous, each has its own constitution, president and parliament; is represented by the federal government in international affairs; and is supposedly home to a specific ethnic minority.
	48 oblasts (provinces) (, sing. ; oblasti, sing. oblast)—most common, regular administrative units with federally appointed governor and locally elected legislature. Commonly named after the oblast center—the largest city in the oblast, its administrative center.
	7 krais (territories) (, sing. ; kraya, sing. krai or kray, the latter being less common)—essentially the same as oblasts. The title "territory" is historic, originally given because they were once considered frontier regions.
	1 autonomous oblast (province) (; avtonomnaya oblast)(The Jewish Autonomous Oblast)
	9 autonomous districts (, sing. ; avtonomnyye okruga, sing. avtonomny okrug)—more autonomous than oblasts but less than republics; usually with substantial or predominant ethnic minority.
	2 federal cities (cities under direct jurisdiction of the Federation) (, sing. ; federalnyye goroda, sing. federalny gorod)—major cities that function as separate regions.

Administrative map of the Russian Federation

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Mergers

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There are plans to merge many of these subjects into larger territories, starting in 2005.

Date of referendum	Date of merger	Merger
7 December 2003	1 December 2005	Perm Oblast + Permyakia → Perm Krai
17 April 2005	1 January 2007	Krasnoyarsk Krai + Evenkia + Taymyria → Krasnoyarsk Krai
23 October 2005	1 July 2007	Kamchatka Oblast + Koryakia → Kamchatka Krai
16 April 2006	1 January 2008	Irkutsk Oblast + Ust-Orda Buryatia → Irkutsk Oblast

Further proposals include:

• merging Tyumen Oblast, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District into Tyumen Krai;
• merging Chita Oblast with the Aga Buryatia autonomous district;
• merging the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg with the oblasts surrounding them (Moscow and Leningrad Oblast, respectively);
• merging Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts, the Komi Republic, and the Nenets autonomous district into proposed Northern/Arctic Krai or a Republic of Pomor-Nenets.

See also

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

External link

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• Russian Classifier of Municipal Entities Territories (OTKMO)

Federal subjects of Russia | Subdivisions of Russia

كيانات فدرالية روسية | Административно деление на Русия | Subjekty Ruské federace | Verwaltungsgliederung Russlands | Venemaa haldusjaotus | Organización político-administrativa de Rusia | Sujets fédéraux de Russie | Ruski federalni subjekti | ロシア連邦の地方区分 | Deelgebieden van Rusland | Russiske føderale subjekt | Podział terytorialny Rosji | Список субъектов Российской Федерации | Rysslands federationssubjekt | 俄罗斯联邦主体