Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union

Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for a number of smaller nations, which were given autonomy within the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.

While the 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR specified that the autonomous oblasts are subordinated to the krais, this clause was removed in the December 15, 1990 revision, when it was specified that the autonomous oblasts were to be directly subordinated to the Russian SFSR. In June 1991, five autonomous oblasts existed within the RSFSR, four of which were elevated to the status of the republic on July 3, 1991:

Other autonomous oblasts also existed at earlier points of the Soviet history:

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