MAP RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 8

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CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3
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November 9, 2016
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June 2, 1999
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August 1, 1949
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A provq'cgrelease 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005198109(1-3 WmmwJ_ FOR THE ASSISTANT D1Q'?t'OR U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY 4 725 3 MAP RESEARCH BULLETIN FOR REPORTS AND- l T MATES, CIA No. 8 AUGUST- 1949 ryr.: '?A"~JT Mn ,') I-+AN1(E irr r,l Ass- I CHAW,Fn -rn: T3 S ^_. 't r_FVIFW r TF: A? F RFVirwER: _.372044 14, S. OFFICIALS ONLY Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED MAP RESEARCH BULLETIN MR-8 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY AUGUST 1949 RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RE STRiC TED TABLE OF CONTENTS Eae 1. The Territorial-Administrative Divisions of The USSR ... ...................... I fI. Brief Notice ........ I .. ... ............ 17 A List of Political Entities ............. 17 Territorial Administrative Changes in the Soviet Far East ................... 18 ILLUSTRATIONS "h?art: Administrative Divisions of USSR Jan. 1, 1948 (CIA. No. 2598). ''Aap: Recent Territorial Administrative .Changes in the Soviet Far East (CIA 11287) Restricted. No :: This Bulletin has not been coordinated with the intelligence organizations of the Depart- ments of State., Army, Navy, and the Air Force. RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A0001.00100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRIC TED 1. TEE 1 ERRE `O .IAI, AI)iV INISTRA I T DI~TISIC~NS OF THE USSR Since the earliest days of the Communist regime, Soviet authorities have attached great importance to terri- torial -administrative divisions. The correct representa- tion of these divisions on maps is therefore of major impor- 'ne : not only to cartographers but also to all research wor-.rs who use official Soviet source materials. Soviet statiLtics are published by territorial-administrative divi- sions and official literature is presented in terms of these divis,".ons. In many cases, obscure place names that do not appear on maps can be located only by the administrative divisions. The divisions also serve as guides to the distri- butio of the impor# .nt nationality groups of the Soviet Union. During the past three decades, the administrative system of the USSR has undergone more changes than any other in the world. During this same period, the Soviet Union has probably published more administrative maps than any other country in the world. Often, however, the maps have become out of date before their distribution to the public. The ters itor.l--administrative structure of the USSR is ve?`y complex (see accompanying chart). This is owing In par 3t to the magnitude of the country. The Soviet Union includes one -sixth of the area of the world and 180 rational groups with a total population of nearly 200,000,000. The system is further complicated by the totalitarian form of the government, which controls the economic as well as the political life of the country. Finally, the expanding economy has '_ esulted in a rapid succession of changes and adjustment-3 in the administrative system. In 1940, there were 69,095 -.1 - RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED tern aortal-admhaistarative divisions in the USSR. By 1947, the number had graven to 84,310. Major changes and adjust- me-es are still in progress, two having been made in the Soviet Far East during the last year. (See p. 18 of this Hull(tin) The administrative structure of the USSR includes divisions of two types --the one based on the nationality or race and the other based on administrative function. For convenience in describing these two groups of divisions, the first group will be referred to in this paper as "national" and the second as "non-national." National Divisions The divisions based on nationality were designed to provide political autonomy to the principal, compact racial groups, theoretically in proportion to their ability to govern themselves. Of the 180 national groups, 61 now have their own administrative divisions named after the predominant nationality group within the area. The four types of national subd:v ions in the USSR are listed below in the order of their importance and the amount of local autonomy granted to them: (1) Union Republic (Soviet Socialist Republic--SSR) (2) Autonomous Republic (Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic--ASSR) (3) Autonomous Oblast (A.O,) (4) National Okrug (N, Oo ) Depending upon whether its political and economic status is advancing or retrogressing, a national group may move from one of these divisions to another, with an accomp uiy- ing change in the amount of local autonomy granted to it. Chajages usaia" ly follow the "nationalities ladder," one step at a time. For -2- RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED exmmple, the Kazakh ASSR was raised to the level of a Unto; Republic on 5 December 1936. Changes may also proceed down the "ladder." Thus, the Crimean ASSR was reduced to the rank of an Autonomous Oblast in 1944. The following year its national status was abolished and it be - ccame a non-national Oblast. The regular "ladder" has not always been followed. For example, the Kalmyk ASSR was abolished in a single step after World War II and its area was set up as an administrative Oblast.1 1, The Union Re ubltc The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is a federation of 16 Union Republics, each of which is named after the main ethnic group within its boundaries. Accord- ing to the Soviet Constitution, a Union Republic is a sovereign state with broad political and administrative powers of its own, including the right of secession. There is no uniform system of subdivision among the various Union Republics. The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (R S,.F.S.R.,), the largest of the Union Republics in area, size, and produc- tive capacity, includes within its jurisdiction practically all types of xionai administrative divisions. Four other Union Republics include within their boundaries one or more of the national divisions of lower rank. The remaining eleven have no recognized national groups of sufficient size or importance to merit nationality organization of their own. Two of these eleven are subdivided directly into non-national minor civil divisions, 1. For a comprehensive historical account of changes see: 4A Guide to Changes in Administrative Divisions of the USSR, including Area and Population Figures (Revised)." :r '=ivision of Research for Europe, Office of Intelligence Research, Department of State, OIR Report 1163-A. April 10, 1947. -3 RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED The Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The ASSN ranks second among the national divisions. Like the Union Republic, it has its own constitution, but its %Atoa omy is more limited and it does not have the right of sece,asion. Each ASSR is subordinate to a Union Republic. At present, there are 16 ASSR's in the Soviet Union--helve in the RSFSR, two in the Georgian SSR, and one each in the Azerbaydzhan and Uzbek SSR's. In 1940, there were 21 ASSR's in the Soviet Union. Most of the ASSR's are subdivided into non-national r bior civil divisions --Rayons or divisions of equivalent rank. In the past, there were also a few Administrative Oknucs within ASSR's, but the last of these (the Aldan Okrug of Yakut ASSR) was abolished in 1947. 3. Autonomous Mast The Autonomous Oblast has far less local self rule than the Autonomous Republic. It has no constitution and its rights are defined by statutes of the Union Republic within whtc"a it is located. An A.O. may be directly subordinate to a Union Republic or to a non-national Kray, which in turn is . reslurpansibie to a Union Republic. Most of the A. 0.'s are located within the RSFSR. Of then , five are subordinate to Krays. The sixth, the Tuva A.0. (formerly the Tuva Peoples Republic), Is directly responsible to the RSFSR. The three remaining A.O.'s in the Soviet Union are all directly under Union Republics. A 0.'s are divided into non-national subdivisions only.-either Rayons or their equivalents. ._ -4 RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED .. The National kruff The National Qkrug is the lowest of the national divisions in rank and has very little autonomy. All of the 10 Nt?.'s in the Soviet Union are located within the RSFSR, and ',x.11 are subdivided into non-national Rayons or equivalent adnrknistrative divisions. No x-Nation:).l Di -isions The non-national administrative divisions form a secondary class of political units within the territorial- admrncistra.tive structure of the USSR. Their formation is governed solely by considerations of administrative effi- cient'.-y. Since they are not linked to national groups, the dint tons that are exclusively administrative, have under- gone more changes in recent years than have the national divisions. The size of the divisions has decreased, with a co ?respo iding increase in number. The trend was intensi- fied by the increasing industrialization and has resulted in closer control of economic and political activities.. The five types of administrative divisions are listed below in order of rank: {I) Kray 2) Oblast (in some areas known as Uyezd) (3) Administrative Okrug (4) Rayon (equivalent units are known in some parts of the USSR as Volost, Aymak, or Khoshun) (5) Selsovet All national divisions include one or more of the administrative divisions mentioned. Subdivision into these MIME, however, follows no uniform system in the various typcf; of national units. -5 - RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED 1. The KY'a The. Dray is a unique type of administrative division founc', only within the RFSFR. It is roughly comparable to the "Territory" of early western United States. In most caffle;, a lcray includes a large area with a sparse popula- tion living on F. pioneer economic and cultural level. The s allest is aY out the size of North Carolina, but both of the two largest care more than three times the size of Texas. The six Kr:?ays occupy one-fourth of the total area of the Soviet Ua on. Five of the six include national as well as non- aatlcival divisions within their limits, --A O.'s or N.O'.s,, or bath. The more usual subdivision of the Kray is the Raton.. The Khabarovsk Kray, however, has two ion - imzi& z t O blasts that are intermediate units between Krays and H yons. 2. The Non-National Oblast With the exception of the Drays of the RSFSR, the non. National Oblast is the highest ranking non- .tionwal administrative division of the Union Republics. Oblasta are directly, responsible to Union Republics except In Kharabovskk Kray, where two Clasts are subordinate to the Kray Executive Committee and not to the RSF'SR, as would be expected. Four of the Republics--the three Union Republics of the Cauca. vas aftd the arelian-Finnish SSR--have no Cblasts. The three Balti ; and the Moldavian SSR's, are divided into Uyezds, which are v; Uer In size than the average Oblast. There were 1911 Oblasts and Uyezds in the USSR as of Septembe. 1948. Practically all are divided into non-rnaationa; Rayons. The Trans -Carpathian Oblast, however, is divided 1. This Includes the recent transfer of the Amur Oblast from the administrative control of the Khaharovsk Kray to the dzect control of the RSESR. RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA=RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED into Administrative Okrugs; and five Oblasts in the RSFSR include National Okrugs within their limits. On most single -sheet maps of the USSR, the adminis- trative Oblast is the lowest ranking administrative division that can be shown. No Soviet maps, however, show the three Uyezds of the Baltic Republics, although they were taken over by the USSR in 1940. 3. The Administrative Okrug The Administrative Okrug is an unusual administra- tive unit. In the past, a unit called an Administrative Okrug occupied a position between the Oblast and the Kray. It was a special type of temporary administrative division. For example, the northern part of East Prussia was first adminis- tered as an Okrug when it was taken over by the USSR; later it became an Oblast. Because of its temporary character, the Administrative Okrug has been the least stable of the administrative divisions. Of the 10 Administrative Okrugs of the RSFSR as of 1940, none remained by 1948. The only so-called Administrative Okrugs in existence today are in the Trans-Carpathian Oblast (Zakarpatskaya Oblast') of the Ukranian SSR. There, however, the Okrug is a minor civil division equivalent to a Rayon, which it also resembles in . , n size. 4. The Rayon (Volost, Aymak, Khoshun, Off) The Rayon is the lowest ranking civil division that has boundaries that have been delimited by the Soviets. It is known under different names in various parts of the USSR. In the Baltic Republics, the Volost is equivalent to the Rayon in administrative function but is much smaller in size. The-, three, small Republics contain 1,067 Volosts, whereas the RESTRICTED ' Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED othe m 13 Union Republics together have 4,250 Rayons. Other divisions comparable to the Rayon in function and area are known as Aymaks in the Gorno-Altaysk A.O., the Ust' -Orda Buryat -Mongol N.0. , and the lurya t -Mongol ASSI1; Khoshur s in the Tuva A.?., and rugs in the Trans Carpathian Oblast recently acquired from Czechoslovakia. Rayons are of two types, rural and urban. Large cities are divided into several urban Rayons in much the same way Wt t New York City is divided into counties. Either type of Rayons may be a subdivision of any of the four types of national divisions or of non-national Drays orlas. An unusual arrangement of Rayons occurs In Kh b .rovsk may. Two groups of adjacent Rayons, each of which occupies an area of considerable size, are directly subo ?dinate to the Kharabovsk Kray Executive Committee rathe than to an Mast. The reasons for this unusual a yranement are not definitely known. One of the groups, h.mve ver, is located in the upper and middle basins of the Koly a River In the gold field area. This group may be under the spec1.l direction of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (IA VD), which would account for the departure from the usual administrative structure. ' second group of Raycas, is situated north of the Jewish A.O. and extends eastward to the Tatar Straits. Thb area includes the two large- and rapidly growhig cities ox Komsomol'sk and Kliabarovsk, and the port of Sovetskaya Cavan'. The special administrative arrangement would give the ?Kray direct control of this rapidly developing area. In order to understand the differences between rural and urban Rayons, a brief explanation of the Soviet classifip catin of populated places is necessary. Urban settlements include "cities" and "urban-like settlements" that have not at i ned the status of cities. The exact definition of a city is REST.ICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED not known, but apparently the definition of a city is estab- lished by legislation or decree In each Union Republic. In the RSFSR, a city is a populated place having an adult population of not less than 1,000, of which no more than 25 pt)rcent is engaged in agriculture. In 1940, there were 1,081 cities in the Soviet Union as of 1 January 1947 there were 1,380. For administrative purposes, cities are further classified according to their status within the national or non-national administrative division to which they are subordinate. The largest and most important cities are directly subordinate to Union Republics. Smaller cities and those of minor importance are subordinate to Rayons. "Urban-like settlements" that have not attained the status of cities are the lowest ranking urban division in the USSR. Some of these are further classified as ' cc woakers' settlements" or "health resort settlements." Small agricultural communities are classified as "non- urbia settlements." ::. The Selsovet The rural Rayon is made up of Village Soviets (Solsovets, an abbreviation of Sel'skiy Sovet or Village Council). As of I January 1947 there were 74,832 Selsovets in the USSR. k i l Sources of Information on Administrative Divisions The most comprehensive official Soviet listings of terra,torial-administrative divisions are published in two handbooks. "SSSR Administrativao-Territorial'noye Deleniye Soyvr, nykh Respublik" (USSR Territorial Ad a.bnistrative Divk ion of Union Republics), published by the Information- Statistical Branch of the Secretariat of the Praesidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, gives the territorial-adminis- tratipe structure from Union Rep tics through "settlements RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED of an urban type" as of 1 January 1947. The. area is given for all units through the Rayon level, and summary tables show the number of subdivisions of each type within all of the administrative divisions. Beginning with Rayons, esti- mates are given of distances from the administrative center of each division to the center of the next higher division. For each division, distances to the nearest railroad center are also given, together with the name of the nearest rail- road station and the railroad district within which it is located. The number of Selsovets, cities, and "settlements of an urban type" is given for all Rayons. The second hand- book, entitled "RFSFR Administrativno-Territorial'noye Del.eiiye" (RSFSR, Administrative-Territorial Division), is published by the Information-Statistical Branch of the Secre- tariat of the Praesidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. This publication gives the status of the internal divisions of the PSFSR as of 1 January 1948. It also includes additional details such as the names of Selsovets within each Rayon, names of 'Workers' Settlements," and the dates of the estab- lishment of the Rayons. Both handbooks are published annually. Changes made between editions are announced in le~, domosti Verkho n o Soveta SSR (Gazette of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 'oa~rna in-he gazette is also reprinted in all Soviet newspapers. The best sources of boundary information are the Soviet political-administrative maps, which are of several types. The official map, entitled Politiko-Administrativna a ann Karta SSSR, is printed at two scales 000 :5,000000) and is published by Glavnoye Upravlentye Geodezii I Kartografii pri SM SSSR (Principal Administration for Geodlesy and Cartography attached to the, , Council of Ministers, USSR-- abbreviated to GUGK). European USSR is covered by maps at larger scale. The most recent of these is Politiko Administim- tivn, a Icarta Yevropeyskoy Chasti SSSR (Politteal -Administra F~Wve Map of the European Part of the USSR), 1:2,000,000, ca. 1947. - 10 - RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED In 11.1'43 , GUGK instituted the policy of omitting dates from all unclassified maps(with the exception of a few wall maps) released for public distribution. This seriously complicates the tisk of determining which is the most recent map avail- able. The most recent map of the Soviet Union as a whole is so ovetskikh 3otsialistiche: kit es. ublik Politiko- Admii ~~iv a Irtaaon of Soviet Socialist Rem plics, oli icy l in s a ve Map), 1:4, 000, 000, published by the I rt, grafichesl aye Chest', doyen o-Topograficheskogo l;Tpr vieniya eneral'nogo Shtaba Vooruzhennykh Sil SSR (Cartographic Section of the Military -Topographic Adminis- tration of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, USSR). The map was compiled in 1945, corrected in 1947, and authorized for publication 6 October 1947. A more general comp nion map, published in 1945, is being reprinted by color separation, with revisions from the 1947 map incorporated. It wi'U.1 be published as CIA 11043. The most recent non-Soviet map of the political- administr?ative divisions of the Soviet Union is USSR Adminis ve D visiona, January 1946, 1:12,000,000, published by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA 10489.1). The last edition of the map is out of date. The map, however, will. be revised from time to time. None of the maps mentioned above shows the entire inter-ml boundary system of the USSR. They do show all nati. xaal units as well as Drays and most Oblasts. The Uyezd boundaries in the Baltic Republics are not shown on any of the raps. The map of European USSR is the first medium- scal. a map that shows the administrative centers of Rayons. Mayon boundaries are also shown on a series of regional political-administrative maps, the publication of which was begun in 1936 and is still continuing. Complete -- 11 RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICT IM coverage of all of the USSR is not available in the United States at the present time,. Recent (1948) editions of the series are classified "for service use only," which is the equivalent of US "restricted." A recent edition of Geo ;raf tya v Shkole (No. 1, 1949), a Soviet geographical journl,s lahel announce- men and a map of recent major changes in. the administrative divi?,4ons in the Soviet Far East (see p. 18 of this Rules). Cartographic Presentation of Internal Boundaries Because of the complicated territorial-administrative stru,-ture, it is difficult to show the internal boundaries of the soviet Union on maps. Maps published by the Soviets follcw a standardized pattern of presentation, but the pattern is difficult for anyone who is not familiar with the system of pokit.ical subdivisic.ns to understand. On all Soviet maps, a separate boundary symbol is used for Union Republics. Another symbol is used for Autonomous Republics, non- national Oblasts, and Krays (except for a few older maps on which the ASSR's are distinguished by an individual symbol). The use of the same symbol for national and non-national unite: conceals the basic structure of the Soviet Union from anyone who cannot read the Russian names. On maps of Eurp,pean USSR, Autonomous Oblasts are shown by a separate symbbol; but in the Khabarovsk Kray, Autonomous Oblasts and non-national Oblasts have the same boundary symbol. National Okra gs are always shovin by a distinctive boundary symbol. The boundaries of only the rural Rayons are shown on np3. Urban Rayon boundaries are given only on large-scale city plans or on insets of some Soviet regional political- administrative maps. -12- RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED Maps of the Soviet Union made by other countries usually fail to show boundaries correctly. The maps err in several respects: (1) they are usually out of date and convequentl,y fall to show recent administrative changes; (2) t zey create false impressions by using English-language equivalents for Russian administrative units; (3) if selected ante ?nal boundaries are shown, the selection Is made without regard to the characteristics of the Soviet administrative system; and (4) boundary symbols on the face of the map and in the legend do not agree. Examples of some of the errors appear on the National Geographic Society map, Union of Stet Socialist Republics, 1:9,000,000, December 194. The errors are impor n ecause the map has been used more widely than any other English-language. map of the Soviet Unic:n. Five categories of administrative divisions are shown: Union Republic, Autonomous Republic, Autonomous Oblast, Kray, and Oblast. The total number of these units is shown only for Union Republics and ]Kays. Confusion is increased because individual boundary symbols are not used for the divih4ons, and because most of the divisions are not adequately iden"ified by name. The only boundary Information that is available for the entire USSR is for large political divisions. No informa- tion is available for the Uyezds of the three Baltic Republics. For about two-thirds of the USSR, there is adequate informa-, tion on Rayon boundaries, but all of the information is not of the =:$ame date. The exact location of urban Rayon boundaries is kiiown for only a few cities. The complexity of the Soviet administrative system, coupled with inadequate information, makes it practically impossible to prepare a map that will show the intricate Interrelation among the Soviet administrative. divisions with corn fete accuracy. Whatever method of representing bound- arie3 is used, however, should indicate clearly the distinction -13RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED betw3en national and non-national divisions. Available source material and the scale of the map will determine which of the administrative divisions can be shown. One possible arrangement is the use of distinctive boundary symbols for all types of administrative units and the c: tv?sion of the legend into two .rts, as indicated below: National Divisions Union Republic Autonomous Republic Autonomous Oblast National Okrug Non-National Divisions Kray Oblast (Uyezd in the, Baltic Republics) Oblast within Kharabovsk Kray Another arrangement, which was used on USSR Adar:inistrative Divisions (CIA 10489.1), combines the two cues of divisions into a single group, as follows: Union Republic Autonomous Republic Kray. or Oblast Autonomous Oblast or Oblast within Kharabovs K ray National Okrug Thhc, arrangement is more compact than the first described and the combination of A.C.'s with. Oblasts within Kharabovsk Kra,f reduces to five. the number of symbols used. The arrange- ment, however, tends to obscure the dual basis of the Soviet -14 - RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED administrative system and may seem to imply incorrect adantnistr ative rank. For example, a Kray appears to be subordinate to an ASSR, which is not the case. If some administrative divisions must be omitted, the non-national divisions should be the first to be dropped. If further omissions are needed, the lowest divisions on the "national- ities ladder" should be left out first. Use Soviet Place Names and Administrative Terms On maps published in the United States, Soviet place names may be given in either a transliterated or an anglicized form of the Soviet original. If Soviet names are transliterated, the transliteration system adopted by the US Board on Geographic Nancs (BGN) should be followed. The British Permanent Com- mittee on Geographic Names (PCGN) has recently adopted the BGN system. The use of a single system by the two nations will ultimately result in standardized English forms for Russian place names, and will eliminate much of the confusion that has existed in the past. The anglicization of place names, as used in this artice and on the accompanying chart, has the advantage of situp'*icity and brevity. The Soviet administrative terms have been retained in all cases. This practice is recommended because there are no English or American equivalents of Soviet administrative divisions. Consequently, terms such as province, state, or county give false impressions when applifd to Russian administrative divisions. Maps,, books, and documents published in English that have attempted to use equivalents for Soviet administrative terms have merely increased the confusion. For example, when reference is made to the Kazakh Republic, there is no indication as to whether the present Union Republic (created on 5 December -15- RESTRIC TED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RES713,ICTED 193() or the earlier Kazakh ASSR is meant. Similarly, both. "Alma-Ata Region" and "Alma-Ata, district" might refer either to Alma Ata Oblast (with an area of 103,000 sq..1m.) or to Alms -Ata Rayon (with an area of 1,000 sq. The simp'est way to avoid possibility of error is to re-tin the Soviet terminology in anglicized form. _16- RESTRICTED Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 `~ tor' Yo v o c s. " '^ o a D O x c o x ~ N N ? app A ? W ~ ? ~ ~ , r0 ~ N ~ W N ~ W O l~U O~ N u N z x w x ~ r 3 ~ ~ n v a ~ l? A N W w < o a v o g m m Z .z ao m w `~ P W to s N v j to T 0 WN Sumy 1939 Ternopol' 1939 Trans-Carpathian 1946 Buryat-Mongol 1923 Chuvash 1925 ti Dagestan 1921 as Kabardin 1936 Komi Komi 1936 Mari 1936 a' s Mordvin 1934 North Osetian 1936 Tatar 1920 Udmurt 1934 8 Yakut 1922 Q~Q x Gorno Altay 1922 rKhakass A.0. 1930 Kaluga 1944 Kemerovo 1943 Kostrama 1944 Kuibyshev 1936 Novgorod 1944 Novosibirsk 1937 Ryazan' 1937 Saratov 1936 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 08LASTS Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 D 0 Z rn 0 0 z N I rn 2 (~ T. C d ~ x ~ x 3 S z Z z b n 00 O o io W W ? o o Odessa 1932 z o Poltava 1937 w z o Rovno 1939 t~ w Stalino 1938 ~ Stanislav 1939 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP79-01005A000100100001-3 RESTRICTED IL BRIEF NOTICE A. A LIST OF POLITICAL ENTITIES A publication of the Statistical Office of the United Nations, "Nomenclature Geographic Areas for Statistical Pur noses" (Statistical Pa rs, Series M, No. 1, Lake Success, N.Y