In Russia, theoblasts are 46 administrative territories; they are one type offederal subject, the highest-level administrative division of Russian territory.[1]: 43
The termoblast can be translated intoEnglish as "province" or "region", and there are currently 46 oblasts, the most common type of the 85 federal subjects in Russia.[1] The majority of oblasts are named after theiradministrative center, the official term for acapital city in an oblast, which is generally the largest city. Exceptions to this includeLeningrad Oblast andMoscow Oblast, which have no official capital, andSakhalin Oblast, which is named after a geographic location. Leningrad Oblast andSverdlovsk Oblast retain the previous names ofSaint Petersburg andYekaterinburg, respectively. Oblasts are typically areas that are predominantly populated by ethnicRussians and nativeRussian language speakers, and are mostly located inEuropean Russia. The largest oblast by geographic size isTyumen Oblast at 1,435,200 km2 (excluding autonomous okrugsIrkutsk Oblast is the largest at 767,900 km2) and the smallest isKaliningrad Oblast at 15,100 km2. The most populous oblast isMoscow Oblast at 7,095,120 and the least populous isMagadan Oblast at 156,996.
Krais, another type of federal subject, are legally identical to oblasts. The difference between a political entity with the name "oblast" and one named "krai" is purely traditional.
In theRussian Empire, oblasts were a third-level administrative division, organized in 1849 and few in number, dividing the largerguberniyas (governorates) within the first-levelkrais. Following the numerous administration reforms during theSoviet era, the number of oblasts gradually increased as they became the primary top-level administrative division of theSoviet Socialist Republics (SSRs), the constituent political entities of theSoviet Union. These oblasts held very littleautonomy or power, but when theSoviet Union dissolved intosovereign states along the lines of the SSRs, they became the first-level administrative divisions. The oblasts of theRussian SFSR, which transitioned into the Russian Federation, became the first-level administrative divisions of the new country and received greaterdevolved power.
Russo-Ukrainian War
During theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Russiaannexed theDonetsk,Kherson,Luhansk andZaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.[2] While Donetsk and Luhansk were incorporated as republics, having their respective separate constitutions adopted since 2014 back when they were two breakaway states of Ukraine, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were annexedde jure, but notde facto, as regular oblasts. Including these, the Kremlin claims a total of 48 oblasts. The four regions remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine and are only partially occupied by Russia and its control of the territory is not totally assured.[1]: 5–6, 16
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