Republics of Russia

According to the Constitution, the Russian Federation is divided into 85 federal subjects (constituent units), 22 of which are republics. Most of the republics represent areas of non-Russian ethnicity, although there are several republics with Russian majority. The indigenous ethnic group of a republic that gives it its name is referred to as the "titular nationality". Due to decades (in some cases centuries) of internal migration inside Russia, each nationality is not necessarily a majority of a republic's population.

Constitutional status

Ethnicity of chieves of republics of Russia

Republics differ from other federal subjects of Russia in that they have the right to establish their own official language^[1] and have their own constitution. Other federal subjects, such as krais (territories) and oblasts (provinces), are not explicitly given this right. The chief executives of many republics used to have the title of president, but in 2010 an amendment to the federal law was adopted that reserves such title exclusively for the head of the Russian state.^[2]

The level of actual autonomy granted to such political units varies but is generally quite extensive. The parliamentary assemblies of such republics have often enacted laws which are at odds with the federal constitution. The republics' executives tend to be very powerful. However, this autonomy was lessened considerably under Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sought to impose the supremacy of the federal constitution.^[3]

The establishment of eight large "federal districts" above the regions and republics of Russia, with presidentially appointed governors overseeing the republics' activities, has strengthened federal control, and respect for federal supremacy in the republics. In addition, Putin strengthened the position of the republics' legislatures, while weakening their executives' power. In some republics the executive heads are elected by popular votes/for example Bashkortostan, Tatarstan etc./ while in some republics the executive heads of republics are now appointed by the President of Russia himself /for example Chechnya/. The President's nomination must be accepted by the republic's parliament. On May 30, 2014, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, accepted Khamitov's resignation so that he could participate in the regional elections; On 14 September 2014, most of the votes (82.17%) were given to the acting head of republic by the citizens of the Bashkortostan Republic; On 25 September 2015, the inauguration process took place in the State Council-Kurultay of the Bashkortostan Republic.

There are secessionist movements in most republics, but these are generally not very strong. However, there was considerable support for secession among Tatars, Bashkirs, Yakuts, and Chechens after the breakup of the Soviet Union, resulting in war in the case of Chechnya. The desire for secession in many republics is, however, greatly complicated by the extent to which other ethnic groups reside in their titular republics (Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Sakha; due to the First and Second Chechen Wars, very few non-Chechens now reside in Chechnya.) Also, the majority of Tatars, unlike other titular ethnic groups, reside outside of Tatarstan.

Status of Crimea

On March 18, 2014, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol after referendum and according to its results were joined by treaty to the Russian Federation.^[4][5] Much of the international community and the Ukrainian government do not recognize Crimea's accession to Russia and consider Crimea an integral part of Ukraine.^[6][7]

Former Autonomous Republics and Autonomous Oblasts

The Russian SFSR of the former Soviet Union included three types of ethnic constituent units, viz., in the order of decreasing "autonomy" level: Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (or simply autonomous republics), autonomous oblasts, and autonomous okrugs.

After the dissolution of the USSR, each "autonomous republic" was succeeded by a republic with a similar name (or, in the case of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, by two republics: Chechnya and Ingushetia). Several "autonomous oblasts" (Adygea, Altai, Karachay–Cherkessia, Khakassia) have become "republics" as well.

The expression "autonomous republic" is still sometimes used for the republics of Russia. Although they are autonomous and republics, the use of this term is not technically correct, since their official names, as per 1993 Russian Constitution and their own constitutions, are simply "republic", rather than "autonomous republic".

Demographics

Flag	Republic	Continent	Capital	Titular nationality1	Titular nationality in Republic's population (2010)	Titular nationality: Language group	Titular nationality: Main religion	Ethnic Russians in Republic's population (2010)	Population (2010)4
	Adygea (Адыгея, Адыгэ)	Europe	Maykop	Adyghe	25.2%	Caucasian	Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam	63.6%	440,388
	Altai (Алтай)	Asia	Gorno-Altaysk	Altai	34.5%	Turkic	Burkhanism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism, Orthodox Christianity	56.6%	206,195
	Bashkortostan (Башкортостан, Башкирия, Башҡортостан)	Europe	Ufa	Bashkir	29.5%	Turkic	Sunni Islam	36.1%	4,072,102
	Buryatia (Бурятия, Буряад)	Asia	Ulan-Ude	Buryat	30.0%	Mongolic	Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism; tiny Russian Orthodox minority known as Onghols, often considered separate ethnic group	66.1%	972,658
	Chechnya (Чеченская Республика, Нохчийчоь)	Europe	Grozny	Chechen2	95.3%	Caucasian	Sunni Islam, Sufi Islam	1.9%	1,103,686
	Chuvashia (Чувашская Республика, Чăваш Республики)	Europe	Cheboksary	Chuvash	67.7%	Turkic	Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, shamanism	26.9%	1,251,599
	Crimea (Крым)	Europe	Simferopol	Crimean Tatar	10.6%7	Turkic	Orthodox Christianity, Islam	67.9%7	2,284,769
	Dagestan (Дагестан)	Europe	Makhachkala	10 indigenous nationalities3	88.0%	Caucasian, Turkic5	Sunni Islam, Judaism (if Mountain Jews and Jewish Tats are considered)	3.6%	2,576,531
	Ingushetia (Ингушетия, ГӀалгӀай Мохк)	Europe	Magas	Ingush2	94.1%	Caucasian	Sunni Islam, Sufi Islam	0.8%	467,294
	Kabardino-Balkaria (Кабардино-Балкарская Республика, Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр, Къабарты-Малкъар)	Europe	Nalchik	Kabardin, Balkar	69.9% (Kabardin 57.2%, Balkars 12.7%)	Caucasian, Turkic	Sunni Islam, Russian Orthodoxy6	22.5%	859,802
	Kalmykia (Калмыкия, Хальмг Таңһч)	Europe	Elista	Kalmyks	57.4%	Mongolic	Tibetan Buddhism	30.2%	289,464
	Karachay-Cherkessia (Карачаево-Черкесская Республика)	Europe	Cherkessk	Karachay, Cherkess	52.9% (Karachay 41.0%, Cherkess 11.9%)	Turkic, Caucasian	Sunni Islam	31.6%	478,517
	Karelia (Карелия, Karjala)	Europe	Petrozavodsk	Karelian	7.4%	Uralic	Russian Orthodoxy	82.2%	643,548
	Khakassia (Хакасия)	Asia	Abakan	Khakas	12.1%	Turkic	shamanism, Russian Orthodoxy	81.7%	532,403
	Komi (Коми)	Europe	Syktyvkar	Komi	23.7%	Uralic	Russian Orthodoxy, shamanism	65.1%	901,189
	Mari El (Марий Эл)	Europe	Yoshkar-Ola	Mari	43.9%	Uralic	Russian Orthodoxy, indigenous pagan faith, Marla faith	47.4%	696,357
	Mordovia (Мордовия)	Europe	Saransk	Mordvin	40.0%	Uralic	Russian Orthodoxy	53.4%	834,819
	North Ossetia-Alania (Северная Осетия-Алания, Цӕгат Ирыстоны Аланийы)	Europe	Vladikavkaz	Ossetian	65.1%	Iranian	Eastern Orthodoxy, Sunni minority	20.8%	712,877
	Sakha (Yakutia) (Саха (Якутия))	Asia	Yakutsk	Yakut	49.9%	Turkic	Russian Orthodoxy, Shamanism	37.8%	958,291
	Tatarstan (Татарстан, Tatar: Cyrillic Татарстан, Latin Tatarstan)	Europe	Kazan	Tatar	53.2%	Turkic	Sunni Islam, Russian Orthodoxy	39.7%	3,786,358
	Tuva (Тыва, Тува)	Asia	Kyzyl	Tuvan	82.0%	Turkic	Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism, tiny Russian Orthodox minority	16.3%	307,930
	Udmurtia (Удмуртская Республика, Удмурт Элькун)	Europe	Izhevsk	Udmurts	28.0%	Uralic	Russian Orthodoxy	62.2%	1,522,761

Notes: Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay–Cherkessia, and Dagestan have more than one titular nationality. The former Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic had two titular nationalities until it was divided into the two Republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia in April 1992. The ten largest indigenous ethnic groups of Dagestan are: Aguls, Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Laks, Lezgins, Nogais, Rutuls, Tabasarans, and Tsakhurs. All population numbers in this table are to three significant figures. Balkars, Karachai, Kumyks, Azerbaijanis and Nogais are Turkic peoples and Aguls, Avars, Cherkess, Dargins, Laks, Lezgins, Rutuls, Tabasarans, and Tsakhurs are Caucasian Kabardin and a majority of Balkars are Muslims, but some Balkars are Russian Orthodox Crimea has no titular nationality; other than Russian it recognizes Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian as its official languages. Figures for the population of Crimea are from the 2014 Crimean Federal District census. The Republic of Crimea is coterminous with the Ukrainian-claimed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and recognized as part of Ukraine by most of the international community.

Demographics trend

Ethnic group	Titular (%)				Russians (%)				other (%)[8]
Republic	1979	1989	2002	2010[9]	1979	1989	2002	2010	1979	1989	2002	2010
Adygea	21,3	22,1	24,1	25,2	70,8	68,0	64,4	63,6
Altai	29,1	31,0	33,4	33,9	63,3	60,4	57,4	56,6		5,6	5,9 (Kazakhs)	6,2
Bashkortostan	24,3	21,9	29,7	29,5	40,3	39,2	36,3	36,1	24,5	28,4	24,1 (Tatars)	25,4
Buryatia	23,0	24,0	27,8	30	72,1	69,9	67,8	66,1
Dagestan	86,0				11,0	9,2	4,6	3,6
Ingushetia	11,7	12,9	77,2	94,1	31,7	23,1	1,1	0,8
Kabardino-Balkaria	45,6	52,2	55,3	57,2	35,1	31,9	25,1	22,5	9,0	9,4	11,6	12,7
Kalmykia	41,4	45,3	53,3	57,4	42,7	37,6	33,5	30,2
Karachay–Cherkessia	29,7	31,2	38,5	41	45,0	42,4	33,6	31,6	9,3	9,7	11,2	11,9
Karelia	11,1	10,0	9,2	7,4	71,3	73,6	76,6	82,2
Komi	25,3	23,3	25,1	23,7	56,7	57,7	59,5	65,1
Mari El	43,6	43,3	42,8	43,9	47,6	47,4	47,4	47,4
Mordovia	34,2	32,5	31,9	40	59,7	60,8	60,8	53,4
Sakha (Yakutia)	36,9	33,4	45,5	49,9	50,5	50,3	41,1	37,8
North Ossetia–Alania	50,5	52,9	62,7	65,1	34,0	29,9	23,1	20,8
Tatarstan	47,7	48,4	52,9	53,2	44,0	43,2	39,4	39,7
Tuva	60,4	64,3	77,0	82	36,2	32,0	20,1	16,3
Udmurtia	32,2	30,9	29,3	28	58,3	58,9	60,1	62,2
Khakassia	11,4	11,1	11,9	12,1	79,5	79,4	80,2	81,7
Chechnya	52,9	57,8	93,4	95,3	31,7	23,1	3,6	1,9
Chuvashia	68,4	67,7	67,6	67,7	26,0	26,6	26,5	26,9

Attempted republics

There were several attempts to establish republics within Russia since 1991:

• Ural republic
• Abazin Republic
• Volga German Republic^[10]
• Upper Kuban Kazak republic
• Karachai republic
• South Ural republic
• Siberian republic^[11]
• Nenets Republic^[12]
• Republic of Primorie^[13]

Entities outside of Russia

• South Ossetia^[14]
• Transnistria^[15][16]
• Karakalpakia^{[17][18][19][19]}
• Gagauzia^[20][21][22]

See also

• Republics of the Soviet Union

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Republics of Russia.