Federal districts of Russia
The federal districts (Russian: федеральные округа, IPA: [fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnɨjɪ ɐkrʊˈɡa]) are groupings of the federal subjects of Russia. Federal districts are not mentioned in the nation's constitution, do not have competences of their own, and do not manage regional affairs. They exist solely to monitor consistency between the federal and regional bodies of law, and ensure governmental control over the civil service, judiciary, and federal agencies operating in the regions.[1] The federal district system was established on 13 May 2000.
This article is about the grouping of regions by a presidential decree. For the federal constituent units, see Federal subjects of Russia.History[edit]
The federal districts of Russia were established by a decree issued by President Vladimir Putin on 13 May 2000 to facilitate the federal government's control of the then 89 federal subjects across the country.[9][10]
On 19 January 2010, the new North Caucasian Federal District split from the Southern Federal District.[8]
In March 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Federal District was established.[11] The legality of this annexation is disputed by an overwhelming majority of countries.[12] On 28 July 2016 the Crimean Federal District was abolished and merged into the Southern Federal District in order to improve governance.[13]
In November 2018, Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai were moved from the Siberian Federal District to the Far Eastern Federal District in accordance with a decree issued by Putin.[14] The Administrative Centre of the Far Eastern Federal District relocated from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok in December 2018.[15]