A krai (Russian: край, romanized: kray, IPA:[kraj], lit. 'region, edge') is a type of federal subject of the Russian Federation. The country is divided into 85 federal subjects, of which nine are krais.[2]Oblasts, another type of federal subject, are legally identical to krais and the difference between a political entity with the name "krai" or "oblast" is purely traditional; both are constituent entities equivalent in legal status in Russia with representation in the Federation Council. During the Soviet era, the autonomous oblasts could be subordinated to republics or krais, but not to oblasts. Outside of political terminology, both words have a very similar general meaning ("region" or "area" in English) and can often be used interchangeably. When a distinction is desirable, "krai" is sometimes translated into English as "territory",[3] (closer to "edge" in literal translation, what's more related with the March meaning as a "borderland") while "oblast" can variously be translated to "province" or "region", but both of these translations are also reasonable interpretations of "krai".
The term krai or kray is derived from the Russian word for an edge, and can be translated into English as 'frontier' or 'territory'. The largest krai by geographic size is Krasnoyarsk Krai at 2,339,700 square kilometers (903,400 sq mi) and the smallest is Stavropol Krai at 66,500 square kilometers (25,700 sq mi).[4][1] The most populous krai is Krasnodar Krai at 5,404,300 (2010 Census) and the least populous is Kamchatka Krai at 322,079 (2010).[4][1]
Historically, krais were massive first-level administrative divisions in the Russian Empire, divided into large guberniyas (governorates). Following the numerous administration reforms during the Soviet era, the guberniyas were abolished and krais were reshaped into smaller, more numerous divisions. Eventually, krais and oblasts became almost totally equal as the top-level administrative division of the Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs), the constituent political entities of the Soviet Union, with the only difference being autonomous oblasts could be subordinated to krais but not to oblasts. The krais were unique to the Russian SFSR, and held very little autonomy or power, but when the Soviet Union dissolved into sovereign states along the lines of the SSRs, they became first-level administrative divisions of the Russian Federation and received much greater devolved power.
List
Below is a list of the krais of Russia, listed in alphabetical order:
^Heaney, Dominic, ed. (2023). "The Government of the Russian Federation". The Territories of the Russian Federation 2023 (24th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 43–51. ISBN9781032469744. Including the two territories in Crimea, the 85 territories comprise 22 republics, nine krais (provinces), 46 oblasts (regions), three cities of federal status (Moscow, St Petersburg and Sevastopol), one autonomous oblast and four autonomous okrugs.
