Russia is a federal state. This means that the country consists of a number of equal entities, of which there are currently 85. What is a subject of the Russian Federation? What types of regions exist and do they have individual powers? All these questions will be answered in our article.
Russian federalism
How was the current composition of the Russian Federation formed? This question is especially relevant for those who want to deal with the territorial structure of the country. It is known that Russia inherited a number of regions from the RSFSR. In 1992, an agreement on the division of powers was signed between the regions. A number of rules from this treaty entered the 1993 Constitution.
The number of subjects since the advent of the Russian Federation has been constantly changing. Initially, there were 89 of them. As a result of the unification of some regions in the spring of 2008, the total number of entities decreased to 83. In March 2014, two more entities appeared - the Republic of Crimea and the city of federal significance Sevastopol that is a part of it. Thus, as of 2017, there are 85 regions in Russia.
So what is a subject of the Russian Federation? This is a specific region, which may have one of six forms. The composition of the Russian Federation, as well as the types of national entities will be described below.
Republic in Russia
From history, we know that there are two main forms of government: a monarchy and a republic. In the monarchy, power is concentrated in the hands of one person, which is inherited. In the republic, the head of state is either completely absent or shares his powers with state bodies. Russia is a state with a republican form of government. However, within the country itself there are 22 more republics. How is this possible? To answer this question, we should recall what a subject of the Russian Federation is. According to the law, this is a territory with its own political and economic structure, dependent on the country's central authority. The republic, in comparison with other regions, does not have any special powers, for all subjects are equal. However, it has a number of distinguishing features.
Below in the photo are all the republics of Russia, a complete list.
The first, but not the main symptom is a relatively large area. Moreover, the people on the territory should have a cultural and historical community - as is possible, for example, in Chechnya, Dagestan, Tuva and other territories. The second feature of the republics is the presence in them of their own constitution, president and republican citizenship. The constitution must comply with federal law, the president of the republic does not go beyond his powers. Citizenship is far from being in all republics, and it is more likely to be informal.
Edges in Russia
In our country, there are 9 territories. These are Altai, Stavropol, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Krasnodar and Khabarovsk regions. It is also worth highlighting Transbaikalia, Primorye and Kamchatka.
What is typical for the regions in Russia? Just like in the case of the republics, this is a huge territory. Krasnoyarsk Territory, for example, is considered the largest region in the country. The power in the represented entities is realized at the expense of the statutory norms - provisions enshrined in regional charters. It is the charter that is the basic law in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (with the exception of the republics where the constitutions dominate).
Autonomous okrugs and autonomous regions
In the Russian Federation, there is only one autonomous region called the Jewish (EAO). The capital of AO is Birobidzhan, founded together with the region in 1934. Despite the name, less than one percent of Jewish citizens live in the EAO. A striking feature of this region is the world's only Jewish administrative-territorial status. In total, about 170 thousand people live in the Jewish Autonomous Region.
There are also few autonomous districts (AOs) in the country - only four. These are the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets, Khanty-Mansiysk and Chukotka Autonomous Okrugs. Each region is formed on a national-territorial basis. Despite its name, AOs do not have greater autonomy than other regions. They also have their own legislation and their own territory. Otherwise, all four AOs have the same degree of independence as other subjects of the Russian Federation.
Regions in Russia
Areas in Russia the most. Regions of this type are distinguished by a small territory, as well as a special system of internal political structure. For example, executive power in the regions is called the mayor's office or administration, but not the government, as is common in larger entities. However, on this the features of the status of the subjects of the Federation are exhausted. Names changed, but the legal status of regions remains the same.
Below you see a complete list of the subjects of the Russian Federation of the regional type, of which there are currently 46.
Two areas contain two more forms of Russian entities. We are talking about cities of federal significance - Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol. Sevastopol is located in the republic, and two capitals are scattered across the regions - Moscow and Leningrad, respectively. Disputed legal significance is Baikonur - a Kazakhstani city, taken by Russia for rent.
Federal districts
The question of what the subject of the Russian Federation is is still controversial. For example, many lawyers cannot understand whether federal districts should be assigned to the existing list of regions. After all, each group of entities consists of regions, and federal districts (FDs) only unite existing entities. Nevertheless, it is still worth talking about controversial territorial elements.
FDs were created at the initiative of the head of state in May 2000. At the time of the establishment of the counties, there were seven, today there are one more. The districts themselves are needed for the convenience of organizing executive power in the regions.
There is a central district with the capital in Moscow (contains 18 regions), as well as the southern (8), north-western (11), North Caucasian (7), Ural (6), Siberian (12), Volga (14) and Far Eastern (9).