The federal districts () are groupings of the federal subjects of Russia. Federal districts consist of a group of regions with various autonomy levels as per constitution, but the districts themselves are not mentioned by the constitution and are not autonomous, do not have administrative 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 federal management of the civil service, judiciary, and federal agencies operating in the regions. The federal district system was established on 13 May 2000.
List of federal districts
Federal district Dateestablished Area(km2) 2021 census HDI (2021) GRDP (2023) Federalsubjects Administrativecentre Largestcity Map Population per km2 Total Per capita Central 13 May 2000 650,200 40,342,000 62 0.845 ₽54.102 trillion($ billion) ($) 18 Moscow Northwestern 13 May 2000 1,687,000 13,917,000 8 0.833 ₽19.262 trillion($ billion) ($) 11 Saint Petersburg Southern 13 May 2000 427,800 16,746,000 39 0.799 ₽9.816 trillion($ billion) ($) 8 Rostov-on-Don Krasnodar North Caucasian 19 January 2010 170,400 10,171,000 60 0.793 ₽3.569 trillion($ billion) ($) 7 Pyatigorsk Makhachkala Volga 13 May 2000 1,037,000 28,943,000 28 0.804 ₽22.013 trillion($ billion) ($) 14 Nizhny Novgorod Kazan Ural 13 May 2000 1,818,500 12,301,000 7 0.839 ₽23.044 trillion($ billion) ($) 6 Yekaterinburg Siberian 13 May 20004,361,80016,793,000 4 0.794 ₽13.962 trillion($ billion) ($) 10 Novosibirsk Far Eastern 13 May 2000 6,952,600 7,976,000 1 0.808 ₽10.129 trillion($ billion) ($) 11 Vladivostok Khabarovsk
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History 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.
On 19 January 2010, the new North Caucasian Federal District split from the Southern Federal District.
In March 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Federal District was established. The legality of this annexation is disputed by an overwhelming majority of countries. On 28 July 2016, the Crimean Federal District was abolished and merged into the Southern Federal District in order to improve governance.
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. The administrative centre of the Far Eastern Federal District relocated from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok in December 2018.
Presidential plenipotentiary envoys Central Federal District Igor Shchyogolev (since 26 June 2018) Southern Federal District Vladimir Ustinov (since 12 May 2008) Northwestern Federal District Igor Rudenya (since 29 September 2025) Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev (since 31 August 2013) Siberian Federal District Anatoly Seryshev (since 12 October 2021) Ural Federal District Artyom Zhoga (since 2 October 2024) Volga Federal District Igor Komarov (since 7 September 2018) North Caucasian Federal District Yury Chaika (since 22 January 2020)
See also Economic regions of Russia, a similar grouping of federal subjects, for economic and statistical purposes List of countries and dependencies by area Military districts of Russia, a similar grouping of federal subjects, for military purposes Zonal Councils of India, similar entities
References
External links Wilson Center article on Russia's federal districts