The division into federal districts is a modern territorial structure of Russia, enshrined in presidential decree No. 849 of May 12, 2000 "On the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the federal district." At the same time, these territorial entities are not enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and in many respects repeat the structure of military districts and economic zones in the collapsed USSR.
Instructions
Step 1
Initially, in 2000, the entire territory of Russia was divided into 7 FDs, then, after Dmitry Medvedev's decree of January 19, 2010, their number increased to 8 by dividing into two independent North Caucasian and Southern FDs. In addition, at present and for three years now (since June 2011), the creation of the Capital Federal District with borders within the Central Ring Road is under consideration.
Step 2
This modern division of Russia, designed to increase the efficiency of governing the country, provides for the definition in each of the 8 federal districts of a city-center with representatives of the president, the administrative apparatus and the administration of the federal department located in each of them. But this rule also has its exceptions, since there is no official city center in the North Caucasian Federal District. The sub-divisions appointed in the constituencies also do not have constitutional functions and represent the presidential administration.
Step 3
Another change in the number and composition of the Russian Federal District was made in 2014, when the Crimean Peninsula joined the territory of Russia. Thus, 9 districts of the Russian Federation are:
- Central Federal District with an area of 652.8 thousand square kilometers and a population at the beginning of 2014 of 38.819 million people. The structure of this formation includes 18 constituent entities, regions, and its administrative center is located in Moscow;
- Southern Federal District with an area of 416, 84 thousand square kilometers, a population of 13, 963 million people, with 6 constituent entities and the capital in Rostov-on-Don;
- Northwestern Federal District - 1, 677 million square kilometers, 13, 8 million inhabitants, 11 constituent entities and the central city of St. Petersburg;
- Far Eastern Federal District - 6, 215 million square kilometers, 6, 226 million people, 9 subjects and the capital in Khabarovsk;
- Siberian Federal District - 5, 114 million square kilometers, 19, 292 million inhabitants, 12 subjects and the capital in Novosibirsk;
- Ural Federal District - 1, 788 million square kilometers, 12, 234 million people, 6 regions and Yekaterinburg;
- Volga Federal District - 1.038 million square kilometers, 29.738 million inhabitants, 14 subjects and the capital in Nizhny Novgorod;
- North Caucasian Federal District - 172, 36 thousand square kilometers, 9, 59 million citizens and 7 constituent entities;
- Crimean FD - 26, 945 thousand square kilometers, 2, 342 million inhabitants, 2 subjects and the central city of Simferopol. The newly acquired territory of Russia and the new Federal District are actually the Republic of Crimea itself and the Federal City of Sevastopol.
