Overview of the districts of Russia
Map of subdivisions of Russia
A
district
(
raion
) is an administrative and municipal division of a
federal subject
of
Russia
.
As of 2023, excluding Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sevastopol, there are 1,893 administrative districts (including the 20 in the
Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine
occupied by Russia) and 1,823 municipal districts (also including the 14 in the Republic of Crimea) in Russia. All these districts have an
administrative center
, which is usually the same locality for both the administrative and municipal entity.
In modern
Russia
, division into administrative districts largely remained unchanged after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
.
[
citation needed
]
The term "district" ("raion") is used to refer to an administrative division of a
federal subject
or to a district of a big city.
In two federal subjects, however, the terminology was changed to reflect national specifics: in
Sakha
, where they are known as
ulus
(
улус
), and in
Tuva
, where they are known as
kozhuun
(
кожуун
).
[1]
Hierarchy
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Within the
framework of administrative divisions
, the administrative districts are on the same level of hierarchy as the
cities of federal subject significance
and may be further subdivided into
towns of district significance
,
urban-type settlements of district significance
, and
selsoviets
, although the exact terms for these entities vary from one federal subject to another.
Within the
framework of municipal divisions
, the municipal districts are on the same level of hierarchy as urban okrugs and are further subdivided into urban settlements, rural settlements, or both. Municipal districts are commonly formed within the boundaries of existing administrative districts, although in practice there are some exceptions to this rule.
Municipal district
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]
A municipal district (
муниципа?льный райо?н
) is a type of
municipal formation
which comprises a group of urban or rural settlements, as well as inter-settlement territories, sharing a common territory. The concept of the municipal districts was introduced in the early 2000s and codified on the federal level during the 2004 municipal reform.
Municipal districts are commonly formed within the boundaries of existing administrative districts, although in practice there are some exceptions to this rule?Sortavalsky Municipal District in the
Republic of Karelia
, for example, is formed around the town of
Sortavala
, which neither has a status of nor is a part of any administrative district.
City districts
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]
Many major cities in Russia?except for
federal cities
of
Moscow
and
Saint Petersburg
?are divided into city districts. Such city districts are usually considered to be administrative divisions of the city and prior to 2014 could not be a separate municipal formation. Examples of such city districts are
Sovetsky City District
in
Nizhny Novgorod
and
Adlersky City District
in
Sochi
.
Occupied territories of Ukraine
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]
The
Republic of Crimea
is a federal subject of Russia formed on the territory of the
Crimean Peninsula
, which is disputed between Russia and
Ukraine
. Within the Russian legal framework, the districts of the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea
(an administrative division of Ukraine) continue to be in use. The
federal city
of
Sevastopol
is also located on the peninsula, with its districts having a status similar to that of the districts of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Along with Crimea, the federal subjects of the
Donetsk People's Republic
,
Kherson Oblast
, the
Luhansk People's Republic
and
Zaporozhye Oblast
also continues to use the same districts albeit Donetsk and Luhansk using the pre-2020 districts while Kherson and Zaporozhye uses the districts after the 2020 reform by the Ukrainian government.
[
citation needed
]
See also
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Constitution of the Tyva Republic, Article 138.2a