Selsoviet
Encyclopedia
Selsoviet is a shortened name for a rural council
. The full names for the term are, in , , . Selsoviets were the lowest level of administrative division in rural areas in the Soviet Union
. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they were preserved as a third tier of administrative-territorial division throughout Ukraine
, Belarus
, and some of the federal subjects of Russia
.
A selsoviet is a rural administrative division of a district
that includes one or several smaller rural localities and is in a subordination to its respectful raion administration.
The name coincides with the name of the local rural self-administration, Rural Soviet
, a part of the Soviet system of administration. A selsoviet was headed by the Chairman of Selsoviet, who had to be appointed by higher administration.
For a considerable period of Soviet history passports of rural residents were stored in selsoviet offices, and people could not move outside their area of residence without the permission of selsoviet.
in many of the federal subjects of Russia
.
In modern Russia, a selsoviet is a type of an administrative division of a district
in a federal subject of Russia, which is equal in status to a town of district significance
or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a rural locality (as opposed to a town or an urban-type settlement
). In some federal subjects, selsoviets were replaced with municipal rural settlements, which, in turn, were granted status of administrative-territorial units.
Prior to the adoption of the 1993 Constitution of Russia
, this type of administrative division had a uniform definition on the whole territory of the Russian SFSR. After the adoption of the 1993 Constitution, the administrative-territorial structure of the federal subjects is no longer identified as the responsibility of the federal government or as the joint responsibility of the federal government and the federal subjects. This state of the matters is traditionally interpreted by the governments of the federal subjects as a sign that the matters of the administrative-territorial divisions are the sole responsibility of the federal subjects themselves. As a result, the modern administrative-territorial structures of the federal subjects vary significantly from one federal subject to another; that includes the manner in which the selsoviets are organized and the choice of a term to refer to such entities.
As of 2011, the following types of such entities are recognized:
Soviet (council)
Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
. The full names for the term are, in , , . Selsoviets were the lowest level of administrative division in rural areas in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they were preserved as a third tier of administrative-territorial division throughout Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, and some of the federal subjects of Russia
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
.
A selsoviet is a rural administrative division of a district
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
that includes one or several smaller rural localities and is in a subordination to its respectful raion administration.
The name coincides with the name of the local rural self-administration, Rural Soviet
Soviet (council)
Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
, a part of the Soviet system of administration. A selsoviet was headed by the Chairman of Selsoviet, who had to be appointed by higher administration.
For a considerable period of Soviet history passports of rural residents were stored in selsoviet offices, and people could not move outside their area of residence without the permission of selsoviet.
Selsoviets in Russia
Division into selsoviets as administrative-territorial units remained after the dissolution of the Soviet UnionDissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
in many of the federal subjects of Russia
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
.
In modern Russia, a selsoviet is a type of an administrative division of a district
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
in a federal subject of Russia, which is equal in status to a town of district significance
Town of district significance
Town of district significance is an umbrella term used to refer to a type of an administrative division of a district in a federal subject of Russia, which is equal in status to a selsoviet or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a town ; often with surrounding...
or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a rural locality (as opposed to a town or an urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...
). In some federal subjects, selsoviets were replaced with municipal rural settlements, which, in turn, were granted status of administrative-territorial units.
Prior to the adoption of the 1993 Constitution of Russia
Constitution of Russia
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication...
, this type of administrative division had a uniform definition on the whole territory of the Russian SFSR. After the adoption of the 1993 Constitution, the administrative-territorial structure of the federal subjects is no longer identified as the responsibility of the federal government or as the joint responsibility of the federal government and the federal subjects. This state of the matters is traditionally interpreted by the governments of the federal subjects as a sign that the matters of the administrative-territorial divisions are the sole responsibility of the federal subjects themselves. As a result, the modern administrative-territorial structures of the federal subjects vary significantly from one federal subject to another; that includes the manner in which the selsoviets are organized and the choice of a term to refer to such entities.
As of 2011, the following types of such entities are recognized:
- Inhabited locality : in Krasnoyarsk KraiKrasnoyarsk KraiKrasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It is the second largest federal subject after the Sakha Republic, and Russia's largest krai, occupying an area of , which is 13% of the country's total territory. The administrative center of the krai is the city of Krasnoyarsk...
(together with selsoviets) - Rural administration : in the Republic of Kalmykia and in Tula OblastTula OblastTula Oblast is a federal subject of Russia with its present borders formed on September 26, 1937. Its administrative center is the city of Tula. The oblast has an area of and a population of 1,553,874...
(together with rural okrugs, rural territories, and volosts) - Rural okrug : in the Mari El Republic, the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, and the Sakha Republic; in Krasnodar KraiKrasnodar Krai-External links:* **...
(together with stanitsa okrugs); in BelgorodBelgorod OblastBelgorod Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Belgorod. Population: 1,532,670 .-History:...
, KaliningradKaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
, KirovKirov OblastKirov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. Population: -History:In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Vyatka remained a place of exile for opponents of the tsarist regime, including many prominent revolutionary figures.In 1920, a number of...
, OmskOmsk OblastOmsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southwestern Siberia. The oblast has an area of and a population of with the majority, 1.15 million, living in Omsk, the administrative center....
, RyazanRyazan OblastRyazan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Ryazan, which is the oblast's largest city. Population: -Geography:...
, Tula (together with rural administrations, rural territories, and volosts), TyumenTyumen OblastTyumen Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tyumen. The oblast has administrative jurisdiction over two autonomous okrugs—Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Tyumen is the largest city, with over half a million inhabitants...
, UlyanovskUlyanovsk OblastUlyanovsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Ulyanovsk...
, and Yaroslavl OblastYaroslavl OblastYaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...
s - Rural settlement : in the AltaiAltai RepublicAltai Republic is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the town of Gorno-Altaysk. The area of the republic is . Population: -Geography:...
, the Chuvash, and the Tyva Republics; in AmurAmur OblastAmur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky...
, MoscowMoscow OblastMoscow Oblast , or Podmoskovye , is a federal subject of Russia . Its area, at , is relatively small compared to other federal subjects, but it is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and, with the 2010 population of 7,092,941, is the second most populous federal subject...
, RostovRostov OblastRostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District. Rostov Oblast has an area of and a population of making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia...
, SmolenskSmolensk OblastSmolensk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its area is . Population: -Geography:The administrative center of Smolensk Oblast is the city of Smolensk. Other ancient towns include Vyazma and Dorogobuzh....
, and Voronezh OblastVoronezh OblastVoronezh Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on June 13, 1934.-Main rivers:*Don*Voronezh*Bityug*Khopyor-Economy:...
s - Rural territory : in Kemerovo OblastKemerovo OblastKemerovo Oblast , also known as Kuzbass after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subject of Russia , located in southwestern Siberia, where the West Siberian Plain meets the South Siberian mountains...
and Tula Oblast (together with rural administrations, rural okrugs, and volosts) - Rural-type settlement administrative territory : in the Komi RepublicKomi RepublicThe Komi Republic is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is situated to the west of the Ural mountains, in the north-east of the East European Plain...
(together with selo administrative territories) - Selo administrative territory : in the Komi Republic (together with rural-type settlement administrative territories)
- Selsoviet : in the federal cityFederal cities of RussiaThe Russian Federation is divided into 83 federal subjects, two of which are federal cities....
of MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
; in the Republics of Bashkortostan, Buryatia (together with somons), Dagestan, Khakassia (together with settlement councils), Mordovia, and the Udmurt Republic; in AltaiAltai KraiAltai Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul...
(together with settlement administrations), Krasnoyarsk (together with inhabited localities), and Stavropol KraiStavropol KraiStavropol Krai is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Stavropol. Population: -Geography:Stavropol Krai encompasses the central part of the Fore-Caucasus and most of the northern slopes of Caucasus Major...
s; in ArkhangelskArkhangelsk OblastArkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
, AstrakhanAstrakhan OblastAstrakhan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan.-Demographics:Population: Ethnic groups...
, BryanskBryansk OblastBryansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. Population: 1,278,087 .-History:...
, ChelyabinskChelyabinsk Oblast-External links:*...
, KurganKurgan OblastKurgan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. Population: -History:The oblast was formed on February 6, 1943, just when the Soviet Army decisively defeated Hitler's forces near Stalingrad...
, KurskKursk OblastKursk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kursk.-Geography:The oblast occupies the southern slopes of the middle-Russian plateau, and its average elevation is from 177 to 225 meters . The surface is hilly, and intersected by ravines...
, LipetskLipetsk OblastLipetsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia which was formed on January 6, 1954. Its administrative center is the city of Lipetsk...
, Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod OblastNizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...
, OrenburgOrenburg OblastOrenburg Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkalov...
(together with settlement councils), OryolOryol OblastOryol Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Oryol. Population: -Geography:It is located in the southwestern part of the Central Federal District, in the Mid-Russian Highlands. Kaluga and Tula Oblasts border it in the north, Bryansk Oblast is located to...
, PenzaPenza Oblast-External links:* *...
, TambovTambov OblastTambov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. Population: down from 1,178,443 recorded by the 2002 Census.Tambov Oblast is situated in forest steppe.-Birth rate:...
, VolgogradVolgograd OblastVolgograd Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Volgograd. Population: -Geography:*Area: 113,900 km²;*Borders length: 2221,9 km²....
, and Vologda OblastVologda OblastVologda Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is Vologda. The largest city is Cherepovets.Vologda Oblast is rich in historic monuments, such as the magnificent Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Ferapontov Convent , medieval towns of Velikiy Ustyug and Belozersk, baroque...
s; in Nenets Autonomous OkrugNenets Autonomous OkrugNenets Autonomous Okrug is a federal subject of Russia .It has an area of 176,700 km2 and population of 42,628 as of the preliminary results of the 2010 Census , 21,296 of whom live in Naryan-Mar, the administrative center.-Geography and ecology:The arctic ecology of this...
(together with settlements) - Settlement : in KostromaKostroma OblastKostroma Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kostroma.Major historic towns include Kostroma, Sharya, Nerekhta, Galich, Soligalich, and Makaryev. Textile industries have been developed there since the early 18th century...
and Novgorod OblastNovgorod OblastNovgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa, are located there...
s - Settlement : in Nenets Autonomous Okrug (together with selsoviets)
- Settlement administration : in Altai Krai (together with selsoviets)
- Settlement council : in the Republic of Khakassia (together with selsoviets) and in Orenburg Oblast (together with selsoviets)
- Settlement municipal formation : in Leningrad OblastLeningrad OblastLeningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
- Somon : in the Republic of Buryatia (together with selsoviets)
- Stanitsa okrug : in Krasnodar Krai (together with rural okrugs)
- Territorial okrug : in Murmansk OblastMurmansk OblastMurmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...
- Volost : in Pskov OblastPskov OblastPskov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Pskov Oblast borders the countries of Estonia and Latvia, as well as Belarus. It is the westernmost federal subject of contiguous Russia . Its major cities are the administrative center Pskov and Velikiye Luki . Area: 55,300 km²...
and Tula Oblast (together with rural administrations, rural okrugs, and rural territories)