Katana VentraIP

Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)[a] is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of 20,368,759 km2 (7,864,422 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. The CIS encourages cooperation in economic, political, and military affairs and has certain powers relating to the coordination of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, including cross-border crime prevention.

Not to be confused with Commonwealth of Nations.

Commonwealth of
Independent States
(in other regional languages)
  • Armenian: Համագործակցություն Անկախ պետություններ
    Hamagortsakts’ut’yun Ankakh petut’yunner
  • Azerbaijani: Müstəqil Dövlətlər Birliyi
  • Belarusian: Садружнасць Незалежных Дзяржаў
    Sadružnasć Niezaliežnych Dziaržaŭ
  • Kazakh: Тәуелсіз Мемлекеттер Достастығы
    Täuelsiz Memleketter Dostastığı
  • Kyrgyz: Көз карандысыз Мамлекеттер Шериктештиги
    Köz karandısız Mamleketter Şerikteştigi
  • Romanian: Comunitatea Statelor Independente
  • Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств
    Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv
  • Tajik: Иттиходи Давлатҳои Мустақил
    Ittixodi Davlathoi Mustaqil
  • Uzbek: Мустақил Давлатлар Ҳамдўстлиги
    Mustaqil Davlatlar Hamdo'stligi

Moscow

Russian

Intergovernmental

9 member states
1 associate state

Sergey Lebedev

Interparliamentary Assembly[3]

8 December 1991

21 December 1991

22 January 1993

20 September 2012

20,368,759[4] km2 (7,864,422 sq mi)

Increase 236,446,000
(excluding Crimea)

11.77/km2 (30.5/sq mi)

2022 estimate

$5.5 trillion

$22,500 (approx.)

2022 estimate

$2.5 trillion

$9,000 (approx.)

0.740
high

No common currencya

Member states
Associate state

UTC+2 to +12

right

.ru, .by, .am, .kz, .kg, .az, .md, .tj, .uz

As the Soviet Union disintegrated, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed the Belovezha Accords on 8 December 1991, declaring that the Union had effectively ceased to exist and proclaimed the CIS in its place. On 21 December, the Alma-Ata Protocol was signed. The Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) chose not to participate. Georgia withdrew its membership in 2008 following the Russo-Georgian War. Ukraine formally ended its participation in CIS statutory bodies in 2018, although it had stopped participating in the organization in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[5][6][7] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine starting from 24 February 2022, Moldova voiced its intention to progressively withdraw from the CIS institutional framework.[8][9]


Eight of the nine CIS member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area. Three organizations originated from the CIS, namely the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union (alongside subdivisions, the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Space); and the Union State. While the first and the second are military and economic alliances, the third aims to reach a supranational union of Russia and Belarus with a common government, currency, and so on.

Other activities[edit]

Election monitoring[edit]

The CIS-Election Monitoring Organisation (Russian: Миссия наблюдателей от СНГ на выборах) is an election monitoring body that was formed in October 2002, following a Commonwealth of Independent States heads of states meeting which adopted the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights, and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The CIS-EMO has been sending election observers to member countries of the CIS since this time.


Controversies


The election monitoring body has approved many elections which have been heavily criticised by independent observers.[105]

Life expectancy at birth in countries of CIS since 1960[117]

Life expectancy at birth in countries of CIS since 1960[117]

Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in countries of CIS in 2019[120]

Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in countries of CIS in 2019[120]

Elaboration by gender[120]

Elaboration by gender[120]

Life expectancy at birth in the countries of CIS in 2021, according to the World Bank Group.[117][118][119]

(CSTO)

Collective Security Treaty Organization

Eurasianism

Russian world

Comecon

Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

Eastern Bloc

Eurasian Economic Union

Lublin Triangle

Post-Soviet states

Unified Team

at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 20 July 2006)

Charter of the CIS

CIS Executive Committee

Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS