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Commonwealth of independent States

Commonwealth of Independent States
Содружество Независимых Государств
Flag of Commonwealth of Independent States
Emblem of Commonwealth of Independent States
Flag Emblem
CIS (orthographic projection).svg
Administrative center Minsk
Largest city Moscow, Baku, Minsk
Official language Russian
Type Regional organization
Membership
Leaders
Russia Sergei Lebedev
 Kyrgyzstan
Establishment
8 December 1991
15 May 1992
• Free trade agreement signed
18 October 2011
• Free Trade Area established
20 September 2012
Area
• Total
20,996,932 km2 (8,106,961 sq mi)
Population
• 2008 estimate
276,917,629
• Density
12.53/km2 (32.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
• Total
US$2,906.944 billion
• Per capita
US$10,498
GDP (nominal) 2013 estimate
• Total
US$2,808.844 billion
• Per capita
US$10,113
Currency
Time zone (UTC+2 to +12)

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств, СНГ, tr. Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv, SNG), also called the Russian Commonwealth (to distinguish it from the British Commonwealth of Nations), is a regional organization formed during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Nine out of the 15 former Soviet Republics are member states, and two are associate members (Ukraine and Turkmenistan). Georgia withdrew its membership in 2008, while the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) refused to participate.

The CIS has few supranational powers, but aims to be more than a purely symbolic organization, nominally possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security. It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention. Furthermore, eight of the nine CIS member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area. Three organizations are under the CIS overview, namely the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union (alongside subdivisions, the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Space, which comprises the land of over 180 million people), and the Union State. While the first and the second are military and economic alliances, the latter aims to reach a confederation between Russia and Belarus, with a common government, flag, currency, etc.


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Wikipedia

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