This, and related posts, are primarily for my own deepening education. As westerners, we are rarely educated about Russia and Eastern Europe geography and cultures and I admit to being overwhelmed when it comes to (reasonably) quickly mentally placing a region when I read about something there. I have to remind myself that not EVERYwhere in Russia is like the stereotype of Siberia.
With Russia revealing itself to be the current Karistus power-base, and with 3 of the 4 Brothers operating from here, it behooves those of us who consider ourselves as Karistians, to increase our familiarity with what we can. It's bad enough that we rely on translators to render Russian writings into English - with a whole lot of depth lost in translation, no doubt - but at least I can educate myself geographically, going from the large overview and then eventually drilling down into the details of the regions, their people, their cultures, their histories, and their mysteries.
So, to begin with, I aim to understand how they organise their communities, from the top down.
Oh, and by the way, nescient means not to know, but without any value judgment connected to it.
Okay, here we go ...
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46 | The most common type of federal subject with a governor and locally elected legislature. Commonly named after their administrative centres.
- Amur Oblast
- Arkhangelsk Oblast
- Astrakhan Oblast
- Belgorod Oblast
- Bryansk Oblast
- Vladimir Oblast
- Volgograd Oblast
- Vologda Oblast
- Voronezh Oblast
- Ivanovo Oblast
- Irkutsk Oblast
- Kaliningrad Oblast
- Kaluga Oblast
- Kemerovo Oblast
- Kirov Oblast
- Kostroma Oblast
- Kurgan Oblast
- Kursk Oblast
- Leningrad Oblast
- Lipetsk Oblast
- Magadan Oblast
- Moscow Oblast (NOT City of Moscow)
- Murmansk Oblast
- Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
- Novgorod Oblast
- Novosibirsk Oblast
- Omsk Oblast
- Orenburg Oblast
- Oryol Oblast
- Penza Oblast
- Pskov Oblast
- Rostov Oblast
- Ryazan Oblast
- Samara Oblast
- Saratov Oblast
- Sakhalin Oblast
- Sverdlovsk Oblast
- Smolensk Oblast
- Tambov Oblast
- Tver Oblast
- Tomsk Oblast
- Tula Oblast
- Tyumen Oblast
- Ulyanovsk Oblast
- Chelyabinsk Oblast
- Yaroslavl Oblast
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| Nominally autonomous, each with its own constitution, language, and legislature but represented by the federal government in international affairs. Each is home to a specific ethnic minority.
- Chuvash Republic
- Chechen Republic
- Khakassia, Republic of
- Udmurt Republic
- Tuva Republic
- Tatarstan, Republic of
- North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of
- Sakha (Yakutia) Republic
- Mordovia, Republic of
- Mari El Republic
- Komi Republic
- Karelia, Republic of
- Karachay-Cherkess Republic
- Kalmykia, Republic of
- Kabardino-Balkar Republic
- Ingushetia, Republic of
- Dagestan, Republic of
- Altai Republic
- Buryatia, Republic of [see it's own page on this blog]
- Bashkortostan, Republic of
- Adygea, Republic of
- Republic of Crimea
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| For all intents and purposes, krais are legally identical to oblasts. The title "krai" ("frontier" or "territory") is historic, related to geographic (frontier) position in a certain period of history. The current krais are not related to frontiers.
- Altai Krai
- Krasnodar Krai
- Krasnoyarsk Krai
- Primorsky Krai (Vladivostock)
- Stavropol Krai
- Khabarovsk Krai
- Kamchatka Krai
- Perm Krai
- Zabaykalsky Krai
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4 | Occasionally referred to as "autonomous district", "autonomous area", and "autonomous region", each with a substantial or predominant ethnic minority.
- Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
- Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra
- Nenets Autonomous Okrug
- Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
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3 | Major cities that function as separate regions.
- Moscow
- Saint Petersburg
- Sevastopol
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1 | The only autonomous oblast is the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, city of Birobidzhan
It is one of two official Jewish jurisdictions in the world, the other being the State of Israel. |
Click HERE for wikipedia article that goes with the map8 Federal Districts
.svg.png) |
Click image for a larger viewFederal district | Containing | |
| Central 
| Belgorod Oblast Bryansk Oblast Ivanovo Oblast Kaluga Oblast Kostroma Oblast Kursk Oblast Lipetsk Oblast Moscow Oblast Moscow Oryol Oblast Ryazan Oblast Smolensk Oblast Tambov Oblast Tula Oblast Tver Oblast Vladimir Oblast Voronezh Oblast Yaroslavl Oblast
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| Northwestern | Arkhangelsk Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast Karelia, Republic of Komi Republic Leningrad Oblast Murmansk Oblast Nenets Autonomous Okrug Novgorod Oblast Pskov Oblast Saint Petersburg Vologda Oblast
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| Southern | Adygea, Republic of Astrakhan Oblast Republic of Crimea Kalmykia, Republic of Krasnodar Krai Rostov Oblast Sevastopol Volgograd Oblast
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| North Caucasian | Chechen Republic Dagestan, Republic of Ingushetia, Republic of Karachay-Cherkess Republic Kabardino-Balkar Republic North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of Stavropol Krai
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| Volga
Covers 3 time zones | Bashkortostan, Republic of Chuvash Republic Kirov Oblast Mari El Republic Mordovia, Republic of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Orenburg Oblast Penza Oblast Perm Krai Samara Oblast Saratov Oblast Tatarstan, Republic of Udmurt Republic Ulyanovsk Oblast
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| Ural | Chelyabinsk Oblast (southern-most) Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra (large middle part) Kurgan Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast Tyumen Oblast Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (northern-most)
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| Siberian Covers 3 time zones | Altai Krai Altai Republic Irkutsk Oblast Kemerovo Oblast Khakassia, Republic of Krasnoyarsk Krai (largest area) Tunguska event happened here Novosibirsk Oblast Omsk Oblast Tomsk Oblast Tuva Republic
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| Far Eastern Covers 3 time zones | Amur Oblast Buryatia, Republic of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Jewish Autonomous Oblast (borders to China) Kamchatka Krai Khabarovsk Krai Magadan Oblast Primorsky Krai (city of Vladivostok) Sakha (Yakutia) Republic (largest area) Sakhalin Oblast Zabaykalsky Krai
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