STATE STRUCTURE

General overview

Official name: the Russian Federation (RF).

Government: federal semi-presidential constitutional republic.

President (2021): Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Official language: Russian

Capital: Moscow

Formation

The start-date of Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' state in 862. In the 12^th century, Russian unification began, followed by the establishment of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. In 1721, the Tsardom was renamed to the Russian Empire, which existed until 1917. After the February Revolution (1917), Russia became the first state to transform into the Soviet Republic. Followed by other new soviet states, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) with Moscow as its center was created. Until 1991, the country's name was the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this name was changed to the Russian Federation. The main set of rules is the Constitution of 1993, as amended in 2008, 2014, and 2020. The Russian Federation is the successor state of the RSFSR and the Soviet Union in terms of rights and obligations arising from treaties made by the USSR.

The presidents of the country:

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin served as the first President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He liberalized foreign trade, reorganized the tax system, and radically changed the economic system of the country. The result of the changes was the transition of Russia to a market economy.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the President of Russia from 2000 to 2008, was re-elected in 2012, and is the current President of the Russian Federation. His term ends in 2024. Under his reign, the Russian Federation has restored real state sovereignty. He reformed almost all systems: from judicial to political, and restored the country's defense capability. He is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev served as President of Russia from 2008 to 2012 and continued Putin's political approach. After the end of the presidential term, he served as Prime Minister to Vladimir Putin from 2012 to 2020. In 2020 he became Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

Administrative divisions

Russia is a federal state, consisting of 85 federal subjects: republics (22), krais (9), oblasts (46), federal cities (3), autonomous okrugs (4), and autonomous oblast (1). Each federal subject has equal rights, powers, and its constitution. Each subject has a head, elected in accordance with the Constitution. The federal subjects have their own regional legislation, parliament, and constitutional courts. Each subject has two delegates to represent it in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly. The division of powers between the federal, regional, and local (municipal) levels of government and administration is set out in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the relevant federal and local laws.

Federal districts have been functioning in Russia since 2000 to exercise presidential powers and address other issues of state development. There are eight federal districts:

the Central Federal District with the administrative center in Moscow;
the Northwestern Federal District with the administrative center in Saint Petersburg;
the Southern Federal District with the administrative center in Rostov-on-Don;
the North Caucasian Federal District with the administrative center in Pyatigorsk;
the Volga Federal District with the administrative center in Nizhny Novgorod;
the Ural Federal District with the administrative center in Yekaterinburg;
the Siberian Federal District with the administrative center in Novosibirsk;
the Far Eastern Federal District with the administrative center in Vladivostok.