View source for Republics of the Soviet Union

{{short description|Top-level political division of the Soviet Union}}
{{redirect|Soviet Republic|the type of government|Soviet republic}}
{{redirect|SFSR}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| map = [[File:Soviet Union Administrative Divisions 1989.jpg|330px]]
| category = [[Federated state]]
| territory = {{URS}}
| start_date = 30 December 1922
| legislation_begin = [[Treaty on the Creation of the USSR]]
| legislation_end = • [[State Council of the Soviet Union|State Council]] recognition of the [[State continuity of the Baltic states|Baltic states' independence]]
| legislation_end1 = • [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Declaration no. 142-Н]]
| end_date = 26 December 1991
| current_number = 15
| number_date = 1956
| population_range = Smallest: 1,565,662 ([[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonian SSR]])<br/>Largest: 147,386,000 ([[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]])
| area_range = Smallest: {{Convert|29800|sqkm|abbr=on}} ([[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenian SSR]])<br/>Largest: {{Convert|17075400|sqkm|abbr=on}} ([[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]])
| government = [[one-party state|One-party]] [[socialist state|socialist]] [[republic]]s
| subdivision = [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union|Autonomous SSRs]], [[Oblasts of the Soviet Union|oblasts]], [[Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union|Autonomous oblasts]]
}}
{{Eastern Bloc sidebar|SSRs}}

In the [[Soviet Union]], a '''Union Republic''' ({{langx|ru|Сою́зная Респу́блика|Soyúznaya Respúblika}}) or unofficially a '''Republic of the USSR''' was a [[Federated state|constituent federated]] [[political entity]] with a [[List of forms of government|system of government]] called a [[Soviet republic (system of government)|Soviet republic]], which was officially defined in the [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|1977 constitution]] as "a [[sovereign state|sovereign]] Soviet [[socialist state]] which has united with the other Soviet republics to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"<ref>Article 76 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Конституция СССР (1977)/Редакция 07.10.1977 — Викитека | url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0_(1977)/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_07.10.1977#III._%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0 | access-date=2025-08-24 | website=ru.wikisource.org}}</ref> and whose sovereignty is limited by membership in the Union. As a result of its status as a sovereign state, the Union Republic de jure had the right to enter into relations with foreign states, conclude treaties with them and exchange diplomatic and consular representatives and participate in the activities of international organizations (including membership in international organizations).<ref>{{cite journal | title=Согласие Украинской ССР на обязательность для нее международного договора | journal=Проблемы Законности | date=2014 | issue=126 | pages=207–215 | url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/soglasie-ukrainskoy-ssr-na-obyazatelnost-dlya-nee-mezhdunarodnogo-dogovora-1 }}</ref><ref>Article 80 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Конституция СССР (1977)/Редакция 07.10.1977 — Викитека | url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0_(1977)/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_07.10.1977#III._%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0 | access-date=2025-08-24 | website=ru.wikisource.org}}</ref> The Union Republics were perceived as [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|national-based]] administrative units of the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (USSR).<ref>{{cite book |title=Democratization and revolution in the USSR, 1985-1991 |last=Hough |first=Jerry F |year=1997 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |isbn=0-8157-3749-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/democratizationr00houg|url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/democratizationr00houg/page/214 214] }}</ref>

The Soviet Union was formed in 1922 by a [[Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|treaty]] between the Soviet republics of [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussia]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR (RSFSR)]], [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasian Federation]], and [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]], by which they became its constituent republics of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (Soviet Union). For most of its history, the USSR was a [[one-party state]] led by the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. Key functions of the USSR were highly [[Centralisation|centralized]] in [[Moscow]] until its final years, despite its nominal structure as a [[federation]] of republics; the light [[decentralization]] reforms  during the era of ''[[perestroika]]'' (reconstruction) and ''[[glasnost]]'' (voice-ness, as in freedom of speech) conducted by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] as part of the [[Helsinki Accords]] are cited as one of the factors which led to the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the USSR]] in 1991 as a result of the [[Cold War]] and the creation of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]].

The [[Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic]], a relic of the Soviet-Finnish War (the [[Winter War]]), became the only union republic to be deprived of its status in 1956. The decision to downgrade Karelia to an autonomous republic within the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] was made unilaterally by the central government without consulting its population.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} The official basis for downgrading the status of the republic was the changes that had occurred in the national composition of its population (about 80% of the inhabitants were [[Russians]], [[Belarusians]] and [[Ukrainians]]), as well as the need to reduce the state apparatus, the cost of maintaining which in 1955 amounted to 19.6 million rubles.<ref>[http://welcome-karelia.ru/kareliya-vo-vtoroy-polovine-1940-ch-v-1960-e-gg/obschestvenno-politicheskaya-zhizn-v-respublike-chast-2 Карелия во второй половине 1940-х — в 1960-е (Karelia in the second half of 1940s - 1960s)] (in Russian)</ref>

== Overview ==
[[File:Rouble-1961-Paper-1-Reverse.jpg|thumb|400px|Reverse of the 1-ruble note of the 1961 series, with the value in all the official languages of the Union Republics]]
[[File:State Flags of the Soviet Union and it’s Constituent Republics (1941—1950).jpg|thumb|Flags of all 16 union republics along with the Soviet flag (as of 1941)]]
{{see also|National delimitation in the Soviet Union|Korenizatsiya|Religion in the Soviet Union}}
Chapter 8 of the [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|1977 Soviet Constitution]] is titled as the "Soviet Union is a union state". Article 70 stated that the union was founded on the principles of "socialist federalism" as a result of the free [[self-determination]] of [[Soviet people|nations]] and the voluntary association of equal Soviet Socialist Republics. Article 71 listed all fifteen union republics that united into the Soviet Union.

According to Article&nbsp;76 of the [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|1977 Soviet Constitution]], a union republic was defined as a sovereign Soviet socialist state that had united with other Soviet Republics into the USSR. Article&nbsp;78 of the Constitution stated that the territory of a union republic may not be altered without its consent. The boundaries between republics may be altered by mutual agreement of the republics concerned, if the rest of the union agreed. Article&nbsp;81 of the Constitution stated that "the sovereign rights of Union Republics shall be safeguarded by the USSR".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6Gt3FE5YHMC |title=Federalism and the Dictatorship of Power in Russia By Mikhail Stoliarov|page=56|isbn=978-0-415-30153-4 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=2014 |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref>

In the final decades of its existence, the [[Soviet Union]] officially consisted of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). All of them, with the exception of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] (until [[Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|1990]]), had their own local [[Communist party|party chapters]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|All-Union Communist Party]].

In 1944, amendments to the [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union|All-Union Constitution]] allowed for separate branches of the [[Red Army]] for each Soviet Republic. They also allowed for Republic-level commissariats for foreign affairs and defense, allowing them to be recognized as ''[[de jure]]'' independent states in international law. This allowed for two Soviet Republics, [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] and [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussia]], (as well as the USSR as a whole) to join the [[United Nations General Assembly]] as founding members in 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NAQtAAAAIBAJ&pg=3477,829499&hl=en |title=Walter Duranty Explains Changes In Soviet Constitution |work=Miami News |date=6 February 1944 |access-date=18 February 2014 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1944.htm |title=League of Nations Timeline – Chronology 1944 |publisher=Indiana.edu |access-date=18 February 2014 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615123043/http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1944.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/founders.shtml |title=United Nations – Founding Members |publisher=Un.org |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref>

The Soviet currency [[Soviet ruble]] banknotes all included writings in national languages of all the 15 union republics.

All of the former Republics of the Union are now independent countries, with ten of them (all except the [[Baltic states]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Ukraine]]) being very loosely organized under the heading of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]. [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]] and [[Estonia]] assert that their 1940 invasion by, and incorporation into, the Soviet Union (as a result of the 23 August 1939 [[Nazi–Soviet Pact]]) was illegal in terms of [[international law]], and that they therefore remained independent countries under Soviet occupation.<ref name="Latvia">{{cite web|url=http://www.am.gov.lv/en/latvia/history/occupation-aspects|title=The Occupation of Latvia at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia|publisher=Am.gov|access-date=31 October 2007|archive-date=24 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124083521/http://www.am.gov.lv/en/latvia/history/occupation-aspects/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their position is supported by the [[European Union]],<ref name="EU">[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+MOTION+B6-2007-0215+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN Motion for a resolution on the Situation in Estonia] by the [[European Union|EU]]</ref> the [[European Court of Human Rights]],<ref name="Court">[[European Court of Human Rights cases on Occupation of Baltic States]]</ref> the [[United Nations]] [[United Nations Human Rights Council|Human Rights Council]]<ref name="UN">{{cite web|url=http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?c=62&su=70 |title=UNITED NATIONS Human Rights Council Report |publisher=Ap.ohchr.org |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref> and the [[United States]].<ref name="USA">{{cite web |title=U.S.-Baltic Relations: Celebrating 85 Years of Friendship |url=http://merln.ndu.edu/archivepdf/EUR/State/86539.pdf |date=14 June 2007 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819185542/http://merln.ndu.edu/archivepdf/EUR/State/86539.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In contrast, the [[Government of Russia|Russian government]] and state officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of the [[Baltic states]] was legitimate.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4517683.stm Russia denies Baltic 'occupation'] by [[BBC News]]</ref>

{{Anchor|Constitutional status}}
Constitutionally, the Soviet Union was a [[federation]]. In accordance with provisions present in [[Constitution of the Soviet Union|its Constitution]] (versions adopted in 1924, 1936 and 1977), each republic retained the right to [[secession|secede]] from the USSR. Throughout the [[Cold War]], this right was widely considered to be meaningless; however, the corresponding Article&nbsp;72 of the 1977 Constitution was used in December 1991 to effectively dissolve the Soviet Union, when [[Russia]], [[Ukraine]], and [[Belarus]] seceded from the Union. Although the Union was [[History of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (1917–1927)#Creation of the USSR|created]] under an initial [[ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|ideological]] appearance of forming a [[supranational union]], it never [[de facto]] functioned as one; an example of the ambiguity is that the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] in the 1930s officially had its own [[foreign minister]], but that office did not exercise any true [[sovereignty]] apart from that of the union. The [[Constitution of the Soviet Union]] in its various iterations defined the union as a [[federation]] with the right of the republics to [[secession|secede]]. This constitutional status led to the possibility of the [[parade of sovereignties]] once the republic with de facto (albeit not de jure) dominance over the other republics, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|the Russian one]], developed a prevailing political notion asserting that it would be better off if it seceded.<!--This notion would later be widely viewed as mistaken even by Russian nationalists, but Russian imperialism had flip-flopped on which denigratory view it most preferred for the others: from useful vassals to alleged welfare-queen moochers and then back again.--> The de facto dominance of the Russian republic is the reason that various historians (for example, [[Dmitri Volkogonov]] and others) have asserted that the union was a [[unitary state]] in fact albeit not in law.<ref name="Volkogonov-1998">{{cite book |last1=Volkogonov |first1=Dmitri Antonovich |authorlink=Dmitri Volkogonov |title=Autopsy for an Empire: the Seven Leaders who Built the Soviet Regime |date=1998 |publisher=Free Press/Simon and Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9780684834207}}</ref>{{rp|71,483}}<ref name="Butler-2002">{{cite journal |last1=Butler |first1=William E. |last2=Kahn |first2=Jeffrey |title=Federalism or Federationism. A book review of: ''Federalism, Democratization and the Rule of Law in Russia'' by Jeffrey Kahn |journal=Michigan Law Review |date=May 2002 |volume=100 |issue=6 |pages=1444–1452 |doi=10.2307/1290449|jstor=1290449 }}</ref>

In practice, the USSR was a highly centralised entity from its creation in 1922 until the mid-1980s when political forces unleashed by reforms undertaken by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] resulted in the loosening of central control and [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|its ultimate dissolution]]. Under the constitution adopted in 1936 and modified along the way until October 1977, the political foundation of the [[Soviet Union]] was formed by the Soviets (Councils) of People's Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative hierarchy with the Soviet Union as a whole under the nominal control of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet of the USSR]], located in [[Moscow]] within the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]].

Along with the state administrative hierarchy, there existed a parallel structure of party organizations, which allowed the [[Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee|Politburo]] to exercise large amounts of control over the republics. State administrative organs took direction from the parallel party organs, and appointments of all party and state officials required approval of the central organs of the party.

Each republic had its own unique set of state symbols: a [[Flags of the Soviet Republics|flag]], a [[Emblems of the Soviet Republics|coat of arms]], and, with the exception of [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]] until 1990, an [[Regional anthems of the Soviet Union|anthem]]. Every republic of the Soviet Union also was awarded with the [[Order of Lenin]].
<gallery class="center" perrow="6">
File:E7901-Bishkek-museum-Lenin-carpet.jpg|A hall in [[Bishkek]]'s Soviet-era Lenin Museum decorated with the flags of [[Soviet republic (system of government)|Soviet Republics]]
File:USSRRepublicsPoster.jpg|Poster of the unity of the Soviet republics in the late 1930s. All republics are shown with their respective traditional clothes, while [[Russia]]n shown in modern clothes.
File:Ltsr plakatas 1946 tsrs.jpg|Poster of the unity of the Soviet republics in 1946. Note that the map also points out the [[Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic|Karelo-Finnish SSR]] capital, [[Petrozavodsk]].
</gallery>

== Union Republics of the Soviet Union ==
{{see also|Emblem of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:USSR Republics numbered by Constitution.svg|400px|thumb|right|Map of the Union Republics from 1956 to 1991, as numbered by the Soviet Constitution: 1.&nbsp;[[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]], 2.&nbsp;[[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]], 3.&nbsp;[[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 4.&nbsp;[[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]], 5.&nbsp;[[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakhstan]], 6.&nbsp;[[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]], 7.&nbsp;[[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]], 8.&nbsp;[[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]], 9.&nbsp;[[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavia]], 10.&nbsp;[[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvia]], 11.&nbsp;[[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic|Kyrgyzstan]], 12.&nbsp;[[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajikistan]], 13.&nbsp;[[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]], 14.&nbsp;[[Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkmenistan]], 15.&nbsp;[[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonia]]]]
The number of the union republics of the USSR varied from 4 to 16. From 1956 until its dissolution in 1991, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics: in 1956, the [[Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic]], created in 1940, was absorbed into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Rather than listing the republics in alphabetical order, the republics were listed in constitutional order (which roughly corresponded to their population and economic power when the republics were formed). However, particularly by the last decades of the Soviet Union, the constitutional order did not correspond to order either by population or economic power.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:100%;" width="100%"
! class="unsortable" |[[Emblems of the Soviet Republics|Emblem]]
! Name
!class="unsortable"|[[Flags of the Soviet Republics|Flag]]
! Capital
! Official languages
! Established
! Union Republic status
! Sovereignty
! Independence
! Population<br/><small>(1989)</small>
! Pop.<br/>%
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)<br/><small>(1991)</small>
! Area<br/>%
! [[Post-Soviet states|Post-Soviet]] and ''de facto'' states
! No.
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Armenian SSR.png|50x50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Armenian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Armenian SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Yerevan]]
| align="left" |[[Armenian language|Armenian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1920|12|2}}
| rowspan="2" align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1936|12|5}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|8|23}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|9|21}}
| align="left" |{{nts|3287700}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.15}}
| align="left" |{{nts|29800}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.13}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Armenia}}
| 13
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Azerbaijan SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Azerbaijan SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Azerbaijan SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Baku]]
| align="left" |[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1920|4|28}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1989|9|23}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|10|18}}
| align="left" |{{nts|7037900}}
| align="left" |{{nts|2.45}}
| align="left" |{{nts|86600}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.39}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Azerbaijan}}<br />
| 7
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1981-1991).svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Byelorussian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Belarusian SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Minsk]]
| align="left" |[[Belarusian language|Byelorussian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1920|7|31}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1922|12|30}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|7|27}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|8|25}}
| align="left" |{{nts|10151806}}
| align="left" |{{nts|3.54}}
| align="left" |{{nts|207600}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.93}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Belarus}}
| 3
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Estonian SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''{{efn|name="Baltic states status"|The [[annexation of the Baltic republics]] in 1940 is considered an illegal occupation by the current Baltic governments and by a number of foreign countries.<ref name="Latvia"/><ref name="Court"/><ref name="UN"/><ref name="USA"/><ref>{{cite book |last=[[European parliament]]: [[Media:Europarliament13011983.jpg|Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania]] (No C 42/78) |title=Official Journal of the European Communities |year=1983 |publisher= European Parliament}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Aust, Anthony |title= Handbook of International Law |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53034-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ziemele, Ineta |title= State Continuity and Nationality: The Baltic States and Russia |year=2005 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=90-04-14295-9}}</ref> The Soviet Union considered the initial annexation legal, but officially recognized their independence on 6 September 1991, three months prior to its final dissolution}}
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Estonian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Estonian SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Tallinn]]
| align="left" |[[Estonian language|Estonian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|7|21}}{{efn|name="Baltic annexations"|Not internationally recognized, independent republic continued ''de jure.''}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|8|6}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1988|11|16}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|5|8}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1565662}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.55}}
| align="left" |{{nts|45226}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.20}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Estonia}}
| 15
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Georgian SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Georgian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Georgian SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Tbilisi]]
| align="left" |[[Georgian language|Georgian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1921|2|25}}
| rowspan="3" align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1936|12|5}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1989|11|18}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|4|9}}
| align="left" |{{nts|5400841}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.88}}
| align="left" |{{nts|69700}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.31}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Georgia}}<br />''{{flag|Abkhazia}}''<br />''{{nowrap|{{flag|South Ossetia}}}}''
| 6
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of Kazakh SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1953–1991); Flag of Kazakhstan (1991–1992).svg|border|100px|Flag of Kazakhstan SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Almaty|Alma-Ata]]
| align="left" |[[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1920|8|26}}{{efn|As [[Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic|Kazak ASSR]].}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|10|25}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|12|16}}
| align="left" |{{nts|16711900}}
| align="left" |{{nts|5.83}}
| align="left" |{{nts|2717300}}
| align="left" |{{nts|12.24}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Kazakhstan}}
| 5
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Kirghiz SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Kyrgyz SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Kyrgyzstan SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Bishkek|Frunze]]
| align="left" |[[Kyrgyz language|Kirghiz]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1926|2|11}}{{efn|As [[Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1926–1936)|Kirghiz ASSR]].}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|12|15}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|8|31}}
| align="left" |{{nts|4257800}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.48}}
| align="left" |{{nts|198500}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.89}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
| 11
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Latvian SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''{{efn|name="Baltic states status"}}
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Latvian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Latvian SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Riga]]
| align="left" |[[Latvian language|Latvian]], Russian
| rowspan="2" align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|7|21}}{{efn|name="Baltic annexations"|Not internationally recognized, independent republic continued ''de jure.''}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|8|5}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1989|7|28}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|5|4}}
| align="left" |{{nts|2666567}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.93}}
| align="left" |{{nts|64589}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.29}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Latvia}}
| 10
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Lithuanian SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''{{efn|name="Baltic states status"}}
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Lithuanian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Lithuanian SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Vilnius]]
| align="left" |[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|8|3}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1989|5|18}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|3|11}}
| align="left" |{{nts|3689779}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.29}}
| align="left" |{{nts|65200}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.29}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Lithuania}}
| 8
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Moldavian SSR (1981-1990).svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Moldavian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Moldovan SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Chișinău|Kishinev]]
| align="left" |[[Moldovan language|Moldavian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1924|10|12}}{{efn|As [[Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavian ASSR]].}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|8|2}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|6|23}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|8|27}}
| align="left" |{{nts|4337600}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.51}}
| align="left" |{{nts|33843}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.15}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Moldova}}<br />''{{flag|Transnistria|state}}''
| 9
|-
| align="center" | [[File:Emblem of the Russian SFSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" | [[File:Flag of Russian SFSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Russian SFSR]]
| align="left" | [[Moscow]]
| align="left" |[[Russian language|Russian]]
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1917|11|7}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1922|12|30}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|6|12}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|12|12}}
| align="left" |{{nts|147386000}}
| align="left" |{{nts|51.40}}
| align="left" |{{nts|17075400}}
| align="left" |{{nts|76.62}}
| align="left" | {{flag|Russia}}
| 1
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Tajik SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Tajik SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Tajikistan SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Dushanbe]]
| align="left" |[[Tajik language|Tajik]],<br />Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1924|10|14}}{{efn|As [[Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajik ASSR]].}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1929|12|5}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|8|24}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|9|9}}
| align="left" |{{nts|5112000}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.78}}
| align="left" |{{nts|143100}}
| align="left" |{{nts|0.64}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Tajikistan}}
| 12
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Turkmen SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Turkmen SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Turkmenistan SSR]]
| align="left" |[[Ashgabat|Ashkhabad]]
| align="left" |[[Turkmen language|Turkmen]], Russian
| colspan="2" align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1925|5|13}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|8|27}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|10|27}}
| align="left" |{{nts|3522700}}
| align="left" |{{nts|1.23}}
| align="left" |{{nts|488100}}
| align="left" |{{nts|2.19}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Turkmenistan}}
| 14
|-
| align="center" | [[File:Emblem of the Ukrainian SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" | [[File:Flag of Ukrainian SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Ukrainian SSR]]
| align="left" | [[Kyiv|Kiev]]
| align="left" | [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], Russian
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1919|3|10}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1922|12|30}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|7|16}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|8|24}}
| align="left" |{{nts|51706746}}
| align="left" |{{nts|18.03}}
| align="left" |{{nts|603700}}
| align="left" |{{nts|2.71}}
| align="left" | {{flag|Ukraine}}
| 2
|-
| align="center" | [[File:Emblem of the Uzbek SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" | [[File:Flag of the Uzbek SSR.svg|border|100px|Flag of Uzbekistan SSR]]
| align="left" | [[Tashkent]]
| align="left" | [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]],<br />Russian
| colspan="2" align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1924|12|5}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1990|6|20}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1991|9|1}}
| align="left" |{{nts| align=left |19906000}}
| align="left" |{{nts|6.94}}
| align="left" |{{nts|447400}}
| align="left" |{{nts|2.01}}
| align="left" | {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
| 4
|}

===Short-lived Union Republics of the Soviet Union===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:100%;" width="100%"
|-
! class="unsortable" |Emblem
! Name
!class="unsortable"|Flag
! Capital
! Titular nationality
! Established
! Union Republic status
! Abolished
! Population
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! Soviet successor
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Petrozavodsk]]
| align="left" |[[Karelians]], [[Finns]]
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1923|7|25}}{{efn|As [[Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Karelian ASSR]].}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1940|3|31}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1956|7|16}}
| align=left | 651,300<br/><small>(1959)</small>
| align=left | 172,400
| align=left | {{flag|Russian SFSR}}<br>{{Nowrap|({{flag|Karelian ASSR}})}}
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Transcaucasian SFSR (1930-1936).svg|50px]]
| align="center" |'''[[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]]'''
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Transcaucasian SFSR (1925-1936).svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Tiflis]]
| align="left" |[[Azerbaijanis]], [[Armenians]], [[Georgians]]
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1922|3|12}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1922|12|30}}
| align="left" |{{dts|format=dmy|1936|12|5}}
| align=left | 5,861,600<br/><small>(1926)</small>
| align=left | 186,100
| align=left | {{flag|Armenian SSR}}<br/>{{flag|Azerbaijan SSR}}<br/>{{flag|Georgian SSR}}
|}

===Non-union Soviet republics===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:100%;" width="100%"
|-
! class="unsortable" |Emblem
! Name
! class="unsortable" |Flag
! Capital
! Created
! Defunct
! Population
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! Soviet successor
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem_of_the_SSR_of_Abkhazia_(1928-1931).svg|50px]]
| align="center" |[[Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia]]<sup>a</sup>
| align="center" |[[File:Flag_of_the_SSR_Abkhazia.svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Sukhumi]]
| align="left" | 1921
| align="left" | 1931
| align="left" | 201,016
| align="left" | 8,600
| align="left" |{{Flag|Georgian SSR}}<br>{{Nowrap|({{flag|Abkhaz ASSR}})}}
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.svg|50px]]
| align="center" |[[Bukharan People's Soviet Republic]]
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Bukhara]]
| align="left" | 1920
| align="left" | 1924
| align="left" | 2,000,000
| align="left" | 182,193
| align="left" |{{Flag|Uzbek SSR}}
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic (1923–25).svg|50px]]
| align="center" |[[Khorezm People's Soviet Republic]]
| align="center" |[[File:Flag of Khiva 1920-1923.svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Khiva]]
| align="left" | 1920
| align="left" | 1924
| align="left" | 800,000
| align="left" | 62,200
| align="left" |{{flag|Turkmen SSR}}<br/>{{flag|Uzbek SSR}}
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Coat of arms of the Far Eastern Republic.svg|50px]]
|align="center" |[[Far Eastern Republic]]
|align="center" |[[File:Flag of Far Eastern republic.svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Verkhneudinsk]]<br/>[[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]]
| align="left" | 1920
| align="left" | 1922
| align="left" | 
| align="left" | 
| align="left" |{{flag|Russian SFSR}}
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Tuvan People's Republic (1943-1944).svg|50px]]
|align="center" |[[Tuvan People's Republic]]
|align="center" |[[File:Flag of the Tuvan People's Republic (1943-1944).svg|100px]]
| align="left" |[[Kyzyl]]
| align="left" | 1921
| align="left" | 1944
| align="left" | 
| align="left" | 
| align="left" |{{Flag|Russian SFSR}}<br>({{Flag|Tuvan ASSR}})
|-
|colspan="9" style="padding-left:0.5em; font-size:90%;"|
<sup>a</sup> Abkhazia's status in relation to the [[Georgian SSR]] as a "treaty republic" was never clear or well-defined, making its status as a separate non-union republic disputed. <br/>
|}

The Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic was proclaimed in 1918 but did not survive to the founding of the USSR, becoming the short-lived [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] of the RSFSR. The [[Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic|Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida)]] was also proclaimed in 1918, but did not become a union republic and was made into an autonomous republic of the RSFSR, although the [[Crimean Tatars]] had a relative majority until the 1930s or 1940s according to censuses. When the [[Tuvan People's Republic]] joined the Soviet Union in 1944, it did not become a union republic, and was instead established as an autonomous republic of the RSFSR.

The leader of the [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]], [[Todor Zhivkov]], suggested in the early 1960s that the country should become a union republic, but the offer was rejected.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elster |first=Jon |title=The roundtable talks and the breakdown of communism |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1996 |page=179 |isbn=0-226-20628-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQZIjbQri0gC&pg=PA179 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Held |first=Joseph |title=Dictionary of East European history since 1945 |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofeast0000held/page/84 84] |isbn=0-313-26519-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofeast0000held/page/84 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gökay |first=Bülent |title=Eastern Europe since 1970 |publisher=[[Longman]] |year=2001 |page=19 |isbn=0-582-32858-6}}</ref> During the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], the Soviet Union proposed to annex [[Geography of Afghanistan|Northern Afghanistan]] as its 16th union republic in what was to become the [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghan Soviet Socialist Republic]].<ref>[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1984/08/19/page/8/ Soviets may be poised to annex the Afghan North] - ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. 19 August 1984. Retrieved on 10 December 2016. "Miraki said then-Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev urged Afghan President Babrak Karmal to win Afghan Communist Party approval for Moscow's annexation of eight northern provinces and their formation into the 16th Soviet republic, the Socialist Republic of Afghanistan. The defector said Brezhnev envisioned the southern half of the country as a powerless, Pa-than-speaking buffer with U.S.-backed Pakistan."</ref>

===Republics not recognized by the Soviet Union===
{{main|Parade of sovereignties}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 100%;"
|-
!class="unsortable"|Emblem
! Name
!class="unsortable"|Flag
! Capital
! Official languages
! Independence from SSR declared
! Independence from USSR declared
! Population
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! Post-Soviet subject
|-
| align="center" |[[File:Emblem of the Moldavian SSR (1981-1990).svg|50px]]
| align=center | ''[[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]]''
| align=center | [[File:Flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1952–1990).svg|100px]]
| align=left | [[Tiraspol]]
| align=left | Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan
| align=left | 2 September 1990
| align=left | 25 August 1991
| align=left | 680,000<br/><small>(1989)</small>
| align=left | 4,163<br/><small>(1989)</small>
| align=left | ''{{nowrap|{{flag|Transnistria}}}}''
|}

===Other defunct Soviet states===
* [[Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets]] (1917–1918) → [[Ukrainian Soviet Republic]] (1918)
* [[Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (1919)
* [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia]] (1919–1920)
* [[Galician Soviet Socialist Republic]] (1920)

== Autonomous Republics of the Soviet Union ==
{{see also|Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics}}
Several of the Union Republics themselves, most notably Russia, were further subdivided into [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union|Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics]] (ASSRs). Though administratively part of their respective Union Republics, ASSRs were also established based on ethnic/cultural lines.

According to the [[Constitution of the Soviet Union|constitution of the USSR]], in case of a union republic voting on leaving the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, [[Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union|autonomous oblasts]] and [[Autonomous okrugs of the Soviet Union|autonomous okrugs]] had the right, by means of a [[referendum]], to independently resolve whether they will stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic, as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.cntd.ru/document/902002993|title=СОЮЗ СОВЕТСКИХ СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК. ЗАКОН О порядке решения вопросов, связанных с выходом союзной республики из СССР|language=ru|access-date=13 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912024819/https://docs.cntd.ru/document/902002993|archive-date=12 September 2016}}</ref>

== Dissolution of the Soviet Union ==
{{Further|Dissolution of the Soviet Union}}

Starting in the late 1980s, under the rule of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the Soviet government undertook a program of political reforms (''[[glasnost]]'' and ''[[perestroika]]'') intended to liberalise and revitalise the Union. These measures, however, had a number of unintended political and social effects. Political liberalisation allowed the governments of the union republics to openly express sentiments related to nationalism. In addition, the loosening of political restrictions led to fractures within the Communist Party which resulted in a reduced ability to govern the Union effectively. The rise of nationalist and right-wing movements, notably led by [[Boris Yeltsin]] in Russia, in the previously homogeneous political system undermined the Union's foundations. With the central role of the Communist Party removed from the constitution, the Party lost its control over the State machinery and was banned from operating after [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|an attempted coup d'état]].

Throughout this period of turmoil, the Soviet government attempted to find a new structure that would reflect the increased authority of the republics. Some autonomous republics, like [[Tatarstan]], [[Checheno-Ingushetia]], [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]], [[Crimea]], [[Transnistria]], [[Gagauzia]] sought the union statute in the New Union Treaty. Efforts to found a [[New Union Treaty]], however, proved unsuccessful and the republics began to secede from the Union. By 6 September 1991, the Soviet Union's [[State Council of the Soviet Union|State Council]] recognized the independence of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] bringing the number of union republics down to 12. On 8 December 1991, the remaining leaders of the republics signed the [[Belavezha Accords]] which agreed that the USSR would be dissolved and replaced with a [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]. On 25 December, President Gorbachev announced his resignation and turned all executive powers over to Yeltsin. The next day the [[Soviet of Nationalities|Council of Republics]] voted to [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolve the Union]]. Since then, the republics have been governed independently with some reconstituting themselves as liberal parliamentary republics and others, particularly in [[Central Asia]], devolving into highly autocratic states under the leadership of the old Party elite.

== See also ==

* [[Flags of the Soviet Republics]]
* [[Emblems of the Soviet Republics]]
* [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]
* [[Eurasian Economic Union]]
* [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union]]
* [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]]
* [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]]
* [[Slovak Soviet Republic]]
* [[Limerick Soviet]]
* [[Paris Commune]]
* [[Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee]] (Polish SSR)
* [[Republics of Russia]]
* [[Federal subjects of Russia]]
* [[Post-Soviet states]] (former Soviet Republics)

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{organize section |date=June 2023}}
* [[Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War]]
* [[Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union]]
* [[Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union]]

{{Republics of the Soviet Union}}
{{Soviet Union topics}}
{{Russia topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Republics of the Soviet Union| ]]
[[Category:Former socialist republics|R]]
[[Category:Soviet republics|.]]
[[Category:Soviet Union-related lists|Republics]]
[[Category:Decentralization]]
[[Category:Post-Soviet states|*]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where Russian is an official language]]