autonomous oblast

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• Hyphenation: au‧to‧no‧mous‧ob‧last

autonomous oblast (plural autonomous oblasts or autonomous oblasti)

1. One of the administrative divisions of the former Soviet Union created for certain “smaller” nations and characterized by following features: they were given an autonomy within a union republic or, in the RSFSR, within a krai; had a status lower than an autonomous republic; had a different titular nation from that of their union republic/krai. Abbreviated as AO.
   • 1972, Patricia Kennedy Grimsted, “The Organization of Repositories: State Archives”, in Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the USSR: Moscow and Leningrad (Studies of the Russian Institute), Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, Historical Survey, section 2 (The Development and Organization of Archives since 1917), page 49:

     In addition, there were six state archives of autonomous oblasti, nine state archives for national okrugi, and sixteen archives and four branches for the sixteen autonomous republics under the RSFSR.

   • 1984, Peter Worsley, “Pluralism: Internationalism and Multinationalism”, in The Three Worlds: Culture and World Development, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, →ISBN, section IV (Ethnicity and Nationalism), page 271:

     The largest Republic by far, the RSFSR, thus contains within its boundaries no less than sixteen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, five Autonomous oblasti (Regions) and ten Autonomous okruga (Districts), while the other SSRs include four additional A SSRs and five further Autonomous Regions.

   • 1989, Richard Sakwa, “Local soviets and administration”, in Soviet Politics: An Introduction, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, chapter 8 (Local politics and participation), page 152:

     The soviet network in 1985 was made up of the USSR Supreme Soviet, fifteen supreme soviets of the union republics, twenty supreme soviets of autonomous republics, 129 krai and oblast soviets, eight soviets of autonomous oblasti, ten soviets of autonomous okruga, 3,113 raion, 2,137 city, 645 town-raion, 3,828 urban-type settlements and 42,176 village Soviets, a total of 52,074 soviets of people’s deputies.

   • 1989, Daily report: Soviet Union, Issues 181-186, p. 75

     Unlike the Armenians in the NKAO they are deprived even of those opportunities represented by autonomous oblast status.

   • 1992, Rachel Denber, Robert K. Goldman, Helsinki Watch, Bloodshed in the Caucasus: escalation of the armed conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, page vii:

     During the early Soviet period the territory [Nagorno Karabakh] was placed under control of Soviet Azerbaijan and given the status of autonomous oblast.

   • 1992, Draft Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 81

     The autonomous oblast has the rights and bears the obligations of a kray and oblast. The legal status of the autonomous oblast is determined by federal law enacted by the Russian Federation Supreme Soviet in accordance with a representation of the autonomous oblast.

Currently there is only one autonomous oblast surviving in Russia, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.

• autonomous republic
• autonomous okrug

• autonomous oblast on Wikipedia.Wikipedia