Category Federated state Number 4 | Location Russian Federation Government Okrug Government | |
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Populations 42,090 (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) – 1,532,243 (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) Areas 177,000 km (68,200 sq mi) (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) – 750,000 km (289,700 sq mi) (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) | ||
Autonomous okrug (Russian: автономный округ; avtonomny okrug), occasionally also referred to as "autonomous district", "autonomous area", and "autonomous region", is a type of federal subject of Russia and simultaneously an administrative division type of some federal subjects. As of 2014, Russia comprises eighty-five federal subjects, of which four are autonomous okrugs.
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History
Originally called national okrug, this type of administrative unit was created in the 1920s and widely implemented in 1930 to provide autonomy to indigenous peoples of the North. In 1977, the 1977 Soviet Constitution changed the term "national okrugs" to "autonomous okrugs" in order to emphasize that they were indeed autonomies and not simply another type of administrative and territorial division. While the 1977 Constitution stipulated that the autonomous okrugs are subordinated to the oblasts and krais, this clause was revised on December 15, 1990, when it was specified that autonomous okrugs are subordinated directly to the Russian SFSR, although they still may stay in jurisdiction of a krai or an oblast to which they were subordinated before.
Recent developments
In 1990, ten autonomous okrugs existed within the RSFSR. Between 2005 and 2008, the three autonomous okrugs in which the titular nationality constituted more than 30% of the population were abolished. Since then, three more have been abolished, leaving four.
The ten autonomous okrugs in 1990 were:
Ethnic composition of autonomous okrugs
The table below also includes autonomous okrugs which have since changed status.