According to microedu, Russia is a democratic federal legal state with a republican form of government. The Constitution adopted by a popular referendum on December 12, 1993 is in force.
Administratively, Russia consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal subordination, autonomous regions, which are subjects of the Federation. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, all subjects of the Federation are equal. At the same time, the Constitution of the Russian Federation fixes some differences in the legal status of the subjects of the Federation. Thus, the republics within the Russian Federation have their own constitutions, and all other subjects of the Federation have charters. The republics within Russia are granted the right to establish their own state languages, which are used in the state institutions of the republics along with the Russian language. Differences in the levels of economic and political independence of the subjects of the Federation in relation to the federal center were recorded in agreements on the delimitation and mutual delegation of powers between the federal authorities and the authorities of the subjects of the Federation (this practice has existed since 1994). In total, 41 agreements were concluded with 46 subjects of the Federation. But in the conditions that began under President V.V. Putin’s federal reform since 2001, the subjects of the Federation began to abandon the treaties. In the future, in accordance with plans to continue the federal reform, it is planned to unify the distribution of powers and financial resources between federal authorities, authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation and local governments within the framework of federal legislation.
In 2004, following the results of local referendums, the Perm Region and the Komi-Permyatsky Autonomous Okrug merged into the Perm Territory. In total, 88 subjects became in the Russian Federation: the Republic of Adygea (Adygea), the Republic of Altai, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Dagestan, the Ingush Republic, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, the Republic of Mari El, Republic of Mordovia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of Tatarstan (Tatarstan), Republic of Tyva, Udmurt Republic, Republic of Khakassia, Chechen Republic, Chuvash Republic; Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Perm Territory, Primorsky Territory, Stavropol Territory, Khabarovsk Territory; Amur Region, Arkhangelsk Region, Astrakhan Region, Chelyabinsk region, Chita region, Yaroslavl region; Moscow and St. Petersburg are cities of federal subordination; Jewish Autonomous Region; Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug, Koryaksky Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug, Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug, Evenk Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Of these: 21 republics, 7 territories, 48 regions, 2 cities of federal subordination, 1 autonomous region, 9 autonomous districts. 7 subjects of the Federation (Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk Territories, Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, 9 autonomous regions. 7 subjects of the Federation (Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk Territories, Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, 9 autonomous regions. 7 subjects of the Federation (Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk Territories, Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk, Kamchatka,
Tyumen and Chita regions) are multi-component, i.e. they include other subjects of the Federation – autonomous districts (Nenets Autonomous Okrug – to the Arkhangelsk Region, Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug – to the Irkutsk Region, Koryak Autonomous Okrug – to the Kamchatka Region, Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug – to the Tyumen Region, Aginsky Buryatsky AO – to the Chita region, Evenk and Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) AO – to the Krasnoyarsk Territory). The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, which until 1991 was part of the Magadan Region, is independently part of the Russian Federation. The republics within the Russian Federation were created on the basis of former political (autonomous republics) and administrative (autonomous regions) autonomies, which in the Soviet era were granted to large non-Russian ethnic groups on the territory of their historical residence.
Under President B.N. Yeltsin, a course was taken to equalize the rights of administrative units, as a result of which the autonomous okrugs, while retaining for the most part the administrative affiliation of the respective territories and regions, simultaneously received the status of subjects of the Federation. However, in May 2000, in order to improve the coordination of the actions of federal and local authorities, control over the implementation of federal laws, by decree of the President of Russia, within the framework of his constitutional powers, the entire territory of the country was divided into 7 federal districts (Central, Northwestern, Southern, Volga, Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern) headed by authorized representatives of the President of the Russian Federation.
