Russia is a federation which consists of 88 subjects (; English transliteration: subyekty, sing. subyekt). These subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament. However, they do differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Most of the autonomous okrugs, while federal subjects in their own right, are at the same time part of other federal subjects (Chukotka is an exception).
Each subject of the federation belongs to one of the following categories:
21 republics (, sing. ; respubliki, sing. respublika)—nominally autonomous, each has its own constitution, president and parliament; is represented by the federal government in international affairs; and is supposedly home to a specific ethnic minority.
48 oblasts (provinces) (, sing. ; oblasti, sing. oblast)—most common, regular administrative units with federally appointed governor and locally elected legislature. Commonly named after the oblast center—the largest city in the oblast, its administrative center.
7 krais (territories) (, sing. ; kraya, sing. krai or kray, the latter being less common)—essentially the same as oblasts. The title "territory" is historic, originally given because they were once considered frontier regions.
9 autonomous okrugs (, sing. ; avtonomnyye okruga, sing. avtonomny okrug)—more autonomous than oblasts but less than republics; usually with substantial or predominant ethnic minority.
2 federal cities (cities under direct jurisdiction of the Federation) (, sing. ; federalnyye goroda, sing. federalny gorod)—major cities that function as separate regions.
