Long-form name: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; abbreviated USSR

Type: in transition to multiparty federal system

Capital: Moscow

Administrative divisions: 1 soviet federative socialist republic* (sovetskaya federativnaya sotsialistcheskaya respublika) and 14 soviet socialist republics (sovetskiye sotsialisticheskiye respubliki, singular--sovetskaya sotsialisticheskaya respublika); Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic, Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic*, Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova, Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic; note--Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is often abbreviated RSFSR and Soviet Socialist Republic is often abbreviated SSR; the parliaments in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, and Lithuania have removed the words Soviet Socialist from the names of their republics, but the central government has not recognized those changes; the parliament in Kirghiziya changed the name Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic to Republic of Kyrgyzstan, but the central government has not recognized that change

Independence: 30 December 1922 (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics established)

Constitution: 7 October 1977

Legal system: civil law system as modified by Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Great October Socialist Revolution, 7-8 November (1917)

Executive branch: president

Legislative branch: the Congress of People's Deputies (S'ezd Narodnykh Deputatov) is the supreme organ of USSR state power and selects the bicameral Supreme Soviet (Verkhovnyi Sovyet) which consists of two coequal houses--Soviet of the Union (Soviet Soiuza) and Soviet of Nationalities (Soviet Natsional'nostei)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of the USSR

Leaders: Chief of State--President Mikhail Sergeyevich GORBACHEV (since 14 March 1990; former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party since 11 March 1985--resigned August 1991); Head of Government--Prime Minister (vacant); Chairman of the Committee for the Operational Management of the USSR National Economy Ivan SILAYEV (since 24 August 1991)

Political parties and leaders: nascent multiparty system

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: President--last held 14 March 1990 (next to be held NA 1995); results--Mikhail Sergeyevich GORBACHEV was elected by the Congress of People's Deputies; Congress of People's Deputies--last held 17 December 1990 (next to be held NA); results--NA; seats--(2,250 total) CPSU NA, non-CPSU NA; note--dissolved September 1991 USSR Supreme Soviet--consists of the Council of the Union and the Council of Republics; Council of the Union--last held Spring 1991 (next to be held Fall 1991); results--NA; seats--(271 total) CPSU NA, non-CPSU NA; Council of Republics--last held Spring 1991 (next to be held Fall 1991); results--NA; seats--(271 total) CPSU NA, non-CPSU NA; note--to be reconstituted as a new legislature--date not set

Communists: prior to August 1991 about 15 million party members, with membership declining

Other political or pressure groups: formal parties, regional popular fronts, trade unions, and informal organizations

Member of: CSCE, ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, ICFTU, IIB, ILO, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UN Security Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Viktor KOMPLEKTOV; Chancery at 1125 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 628-7551 or 8548; there is a Soviet Consulate General in San Francisco; US--Ambassador Robert S. STRAUSS; Embassy at Ulitsa Chaykovskogo 19/21/23, Moscow (mailing address is APO New York 09862); telephone [7] (095) 252-2450 through 59; there is a US Consulate General in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad)

Flag: red with the yellow silhouette of a crossed hammer and sickle below a yellow-edged five-pointed red star in the upper hoist-side corner

NOTE: The information regarding Soviet Union on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Soviet Union Government 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Soviet Union Government 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.