Republics of the Soviet Union (TheodoresTomfooleries)
Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | |
---|---|
Location | Soviet Union |
Created by | Treaty on the Creation of the USSR |
Created | December 30, 1922 |
Number | 15 (as of 2023) |
Populations | Smallest: 1,914,0641,565,662 (Estonian SSR) Largest: 182,133,772 (Russian SFSR) |
Areas | Smallest: 29,800 km2 (11,500 sq mi) (Armenian SSR) Largest: 17,075,400 km2 (6,592,800 sq mi) (Russian SFSR) |
Government | One-party socialist republics |
Subdivisions | Autonomous SSRs, oblasts, Autonomous oblasts |
The Republics of the Soviet Union- also officially the Union Republics for short, are the first-level administrative divisions of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They are constitutionally co-equal socialist republics based on national and ethnic boundaries. The system was created when the Treaty of Creation became effective on 30 December, 1922; the first Union Republics were Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Transcaucasian SFSR. Currently, there are 15 Soviet Republics, a number which has remained consistent since the establishment of the Baltic republics as soviet republics and the "promotion" of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to a full union republic. From 1940 to 1956, as a result of the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland, the Karelo-Finnish ASSR was also a full Union Republic: it was unilaterally downgraded back to an ASSR in 1956. To this day, it is the only time that a Soviet republic has been downgraded back to a lower level administrative division.
The Union Republics hold the constitutional right to secede from the Union; a pleasure not shared by the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. While the Union Republics represent the major ethnic groups of the Soviet Union, the Autonomous Republics are intended to represent ethnic minorities. Most of the Autonomous Republics are located within the Russian SFSR- the only republic with a federal based government.
Union Republics of the Soviet Union
Currently, the number of union republics in the Soviet Union is 15, with the Karelian ASSR previously being its own union republic from 1940-1956. The Soviet Union does not list its republics in alphabetical order, instead choosing to list them in the order of which they appeared in the constitution.
Emblem | Name | Flag | Capital | Official languages | Established | Joined | Population (2019) |
Pop. % |
Area (km2) (2023) |
Area % |
№ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic | Yerevan | Armenian, Russian | 2 December 1920 | 30 December 1922 | 3,533,925 | 0.91 | 29,800 | 0.13 | 13 | ||
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic | Baku | Azerbaijani, Russian | 28 April 1920 | 30 December 1922 | 11,740,527 | 3.04 | 86,600 | 0.39 | 7 | ||
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic | Minsk | Byelorussian, Russian | 31 July 1920 | 30 December 1922 | 12,548,262 | 3.25 | 207,600 | 0.93 | 3 | ||
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic | Tallinn | Estonian, Russian | 21 July 1940 | 6 August 1940 | 1,914,064 | 0.49 | 45,226 | 0.20 | 15 | ||
Kartvelian Soviet Socialist Republic | Tbilisi | Kartuli, Russian | 25 February 1921 | 30 December 1922 | 6,465,905 | 1.67 | 69,700 | 0.31 | 6 | ||
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic | Alma-Ata | Kazakh, Russian | 5 December 1936 | 21,618,388 | 5.6 | 2,717,300 | 12.24 | 5 | |||
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic | Frunze | Kirghiz, Russian | 5 December 1936 | 8,076,395 | 2.09 | 198,500 | 0.89 | 11 | |||
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic | Riga | Latvian, Russian | 21 July 1940 | 3 August 1940 | 3,248,061 | 0.84 | 64,589 | 0.29 | 10 | ||
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic | Vilnius | Lithuanian, Russian | 21 July 1940 | 5 August 1940 | 4,696,408 | 1.21 | 65,200 | 0.29 | 8 | ||
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic | Kishinev | Moldavian, Russian | 2 August 1940 | 5,749,631 | 1.49 | 33,843 | 0.15 | 9 | |||
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic | Moscow | Russian | 7 November 1917 | 30 December 1922 | 182,133,772 | 47.25 | 17,075,400 | 76.62 | 1 | ||
Tadzhik Soviet Socialist Republic | Dushanbe | Tadzhik, Russian | 5 December 1929 | 12,242,293 | 3.17 | 143,100 | 0.64 | 12 | |||
Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic | Ashkhabad | Turkmen, Russian | 13 May 1925 | 7,321,851 | 1.23 | 491,210 | 1.89 | 14 | |||
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic | Kiev | Ukrainian, Russian | 10 March 1919 | 30 December 1922 | 58,088,061 | 15.07 | 603,700 | 2.71 | 2 | ||
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic | Tashkent | Uzbek, Russian | 5 December 1924 | 44,040,864 | 11.42 | 447,400 | 2.01 | 4 |