Ministry for State Security

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Numerous countries and governments have or have had a Ministry for State Security or Ministry of State Security.

• The Soviet Union's secret police were once called the Ministry for State Security.
• East Germany's secret police were also officially the Ministry for State Security, but were more commonly (and infamously) known as the Stasi.
• The People's Republic of China has a governmental agency called the Ministry of State Security; its functions are largely the same as the above two.
• Turkmenistan under President Niyazov also has a Ministry of State Security.

[edit] Similar sounding agencies

• Ministry of Public Security
• Communist Albania under Enver Hoxha had a Directorate of State Security.
• Apartheid South Africa had the Bureau of State Security (BOSS).
• The United States of America has a Department of Homeland Security.
  • See also: Department of Public Safety
• Socialist Bulgaria had a Committee for State Security
• The Soviet Union's KGB stood for Комит́ет Госуд́арственной Безоп́асности (pronounced Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) "Committee for State Security."