List of territorial entities where Russian is an official language

The Russian language is official in over 38 countries, autonomous regions, de facto independent nation-states, and regions. This is a list of countries and territories where Russian is an official language:

Former Soviet Republics

Official

•  Russia
•  Belarus^[1]
•  Kazakhstan^[2]
•  Kyrgyzstan^[3]
• disputed territory'  Abkhazia^[4][5]
• disputed territory'  South Ossetia^[5][6]
• disputed territory'  Donetsk People's Republic
• disputed territory'  Luhansk People's Republic

=Some Official Functions

•  Uzbekistan: Used in notary institutions and registry offices.^[7]
•  Tajikistan: Designated language of inter-ethnic communication. Also permitted in lawmaking.^[8][9]
•  Turkmenistan: Widely spoken as first or second language and functions as the language of the élite, major cities, and is taught in all schools along with English.

Country subdivisions

In these country subdivisions (non-sovereign countries), Russian has de jure official status, but other languages are used alongside in their respective regions at the subnational level.

Country subdivisions where Russian is a de jure official language

Subdivision	Sovereign State	Region	Population
Adygea[10]	Russia	Eastern Europe	444,403
Altai Republic[11]	Russia	Asia	215,263
Bashkiria[12]	Russia	Eastern Europe	4,071,181
Buryatia[13]	Russia	Asia	982,314
Chechnya[14]	Russia	Eastern Europe	1,394,833
Chuvashia[15]	Russia	Eastern Europe	1,236,247
Crimea[16]	Russia (de facto)	Eastern Europe	1,908,322
Dagestan[17]	Russia	Eastern Europe	3,015,639
Ingushetia[18]	Russia	Eastern Europe	473,340
Kabardino-Balkaria[19]	Russia	Eastern Europe	862,050
Kalmykia[20]	Russia	Eastern Europe	278,855
Karachay-Cherkessia[21]	Russia	Eastern Europe	467,617
Karelia[22]	Russia	Eastern Europe	629,771
Khakassia[23]	Russia	Asia	536,768
Komi Republic[24]	Russia	Eastern Europe	856,631
Mari El[25]	Russia	Eastern Europe	685,852
Mordovia[26]	Russia	Eastern Europe	807,444
Sakha Republic[27]	Russia	Asia	959,875
New York.[28][29]	USA
North Ossetia-Alania[30]	Russia	Eastern Europe	703,470
Tatarstan[31]	Russia	Eastern Europe	3,868,537
Transnistria	Moldova (de jure)	Europe
Tuva[32]	Russia	Asia	315 532
Udmurtia[33]	Russia	Eastern Europe	1,517,237
Gagauzia	Moldova	Europe
Donetsk Oblast	Ukraine de facto partially controlled by  Donetsk People's Republic	Europe
Luhansk Oblast	Ukraine de facto partially controlled by  Luhansk People's Republic	Europe
Kherson Oblast	Ukraine	Europe
Mykolaiv Oblast	Ukraine	Europe
Odessa Oblast	Ukraine	Europe
Kharkiv Oblast	Ukraine	Europe
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	Ukraine	Europe
Sevastopol	Russia (de facto)	Europe
A number of municipalities in Tulcea and Constanța counties	Romania	Europe
Zaporizhia Oblast	Ukraine	Europe

As a minority language

•  Ukraine
•  Georgia
•  Azerbaijan
•  Lithuania
•  Moldova
•  Latvia
•  Armenia
•  Estonia

See also

• Geographical distribution of Russian speakers

References

1. Barushka, Katerina (28 January 2015). "After decades of Russian dominance, Belarus begins to reclaim its language". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
2. "On languages in the Republic of Kazakhstan - "Adilet" ILS". adilet.zan.kz. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
3. "Kyrgyzstan: Driving the Russian Language from Public Life". EurasiaNet. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
4. Конституция Республики Абхазия (in Russian). President of Abkhazia. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
5. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are partially recognised independent states
6. Конституции Республики Южная Осетия [Constitution of the Republic of South Ossetia] (in Russian). The State Committee on Information and Press of the Republic of South Ossetia. 15 October 2004. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
7. "Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Official Language"" (PDF). Refworld. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
8. "The status of the Russian language in Tajikistan remains unchanged - Rahmon". RIA - RIA.ru. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
9. "Russian language now able to be used again in lawmaking". News.tj. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
10. "Constitution of the Republic of Adygea, Article 5". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
11. "Constitution of the Republic of Altai, Article 13". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
12. "Constitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Article 1". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
13. "Constitution of the Republic of Buryatia, Article 67". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
14. "Constitution of the Republic of Chechnya, Article 10.1". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
15. "Constitution of the Republic of Chuvash, Article 10.1". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
16. "Constitution of the Republic of Crimea, Article 10.1" (PDF). Russian Ministry of Education, Sciences, and Youth. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
17. "Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan, Article 11". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
18. "Constitution of the Republic of Ingushetia, Article 14". Government of Ingueshetia. Retrieved 2016-12-02.<
19. "Constitution of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Article 76". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
20. "Constitution of the Republic of Kalmykia, Article 17". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
21. "Constitution of the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia, Article 11.1; 11.2". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
22. "Constitution of Russia, Article 11". Government of Karelia. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
23. "Constitution of the Republic of Khakassia, Article 69". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
24. "Constitution of the Komi Republic, Article 67". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
25. "Constitution of the Mari El Republic, Article 15". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
26. "Constitution of the Republic of Mordovia, Article 12". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
27. "Constitution of the Republic of Sakha, Article 46". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
28. "Русский язык стал официальным языком в штате Нью-Йорк" (in Russian). АНН news. 2009-08-11. Archived from the original on 2011-08-21. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
29. "U.S. Census Bureau 2012 estimate: NYC & NY". Archived from the original on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
30. "Constitution of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Article 15". PEC Agency. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
31. "Constitution of the Republic of Tartarstan, Article 8.1". Government of Tatarstan. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
32. "Constitution of the Republic of Tyva, Article 5.1". Constitution Garant. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
33. "Constitution of the Republic of Udmurtia, Article 8". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2016-12-02.