Federations of the World

Federation Maps and Fact Sheets

Russia
Current federal Constitution adopted in 1993
Official Website of the federal government of Russia (Russian and some English)

Constituent units

• 89 constituent units:
  • 21 republics;
  • 6 territories (kraya);
  • 49 regions (oblasts);
  • 2 federal cities: Moscow and St-Petersburg;
  • 1 Jewish region;
  • 10 autonomous areas (okraga).


• The 89 constituent units of the Russian federation are enumerated in article 65 of the Constitution.
  
• Map of the Russian Federation (republics, territories, regions)
  
• Official Websites of the governments of the constituent units: under Regional Institutions (Russian and some English)

Constitutional distribution of legislative powers

• The Constitution of the Russian Federation, Chapter 3, in particular:
  • Powers of the federal government (Articles 71, 74, 75)
  • Joint powers (Article 72)
  • Powers of the constituent units  (Articles 73, 76, 77)
    (Source: Embassy of the Russian Federation, Washington D.C.)

Legislative Institutions

• Federal: Bicameral Federal Assembly composed of the Federation Council and the Duma. The Federation Council represents the constituent units. It is composed of two representatives fom each of the 89 constituent units: the head of each executive and the speaker or chairperson of each regional legislative assembly.
  • Fact sheet on the Federation Council
  • Jurisdiction of the Federation Council
  • Official Website of the Federation Council (Russian, some English)
  • Official Website of the Duma (Russian)
    
• Constituent units of the Federation: Legislative assemblies
  • Official Websites of the legislative assemblies of the constituent units: under Regional Institutions; some of these government sites propose links to the legislative assemblies. (Russian and some English)

Official language

Russian is the official language at the federal level. The Republics have the constitutional right to institute their own state language(s) alongside Russian in their institutions.

• The Constitution of the Russian Federation, in particular Chapter 3: Article 68

Other links of interest

• Information document: Constitution and Federal Structure 
• History timetable (French)
• Ethnic Composition of the Republics (from 1989 census)