Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Союз Советских Социалистических Республик Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik
1922–1991
Flag of the Soviet Union (1936–1955) State emblem (1956–1991)
Motto:  "Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!" Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes'! ("Workers of the world, unite!")
Anthem:  "Интернационал" Internatsional ("The Internationale") (1922–1944) "Государственный гимн СССР" Gosudarstvennyy gimn SSSR ("State Anthem of the USSR") (1944–1991)
The Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991
Capital	Moscow 55°45′N 37°37′E / 55.750°N 37.617°E / 55.750; 37.617
Largest city	Capital
Official languages	Russian[lower-alpha 1]
Recognised regional languages	Ukrainian Belarusian Uzbek Kazakh Georgian Azerbaijani Lithuanian Moldavian Latvian Kyrgyz Tajik Armenian Turkmen Estonian
Minority languages	Abkhaz Bashkir Buryat Chechen Finnish Volga German Korean Ossetian Polish Tatar various others
Ethnic groups (1989)	70% East Slavs 12% Turkic 18% other
Religion	Secular state[1][2] State atheism[lower-alpha 2]
Demonym(s)	Soviet
Government	1922–1927: Federal Leninist one-party socialist republic 1927–1953: Stalinist one-party totalitarian dictatorship[3][4][5] 1953–1990:[6][7][8] Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic[9][10][11][12] 1990–1991: Federal semi-presidential republic[13]
Leader
• 1922–1924	Vladimir Lenin
• 1924–1953	Joseph Stalin
• 1953[lower-alpha 3]	Georgy Malenkov
• 1953–1964	Nikita Khrushchev
• 1964–1982	Leonid Brezhnev
• 1982–1984	Yuri Andropov
• 1984–1985	Konstantin Chernenko
• 1985–1991	Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of state
• 1922–1946 (first)	Mikhail Kalinin
• 1988–1991 (last)	Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of government
• 1922–1924 (first)	Vladimir Lenin
• 1991 (last)	Ivan Silayev
Legislature	Congress of Soviets (1922–1936)[lower-alpha 4] Supreme Soviet (1936–1991)
• Upper house	Soviet of Nationalities
• Lower house	Soviet of the Union
History
• Bolshevik Coup	7 November 1917
• Established	30 December 1922
• Civil War ended	16 June 1923
• First constitution	31 January 1924
• Second constitution	5 December 1936
• Operation Barbarossa	22 June 1941
• Victory in World War II	9 May 1945
• De-Stalinization	25 February 1956
• Last constitution	9 October 1977
• First republic secedes	11 March 1990
• Multi-party system	14 March 1990
• August Coup	19–22 August 1991
• Belovezha Accords	8 December 1991
• Proclaimed dissolved	26 December 1991
Area
• Total	22,402,200 km2 (8,649,500 sq mi)
Population
• 1989 census	286,730,819[14] (3rd)
• Density	12.7/km2 (32.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	1990 estimate
• Total	$2.7 trillion[15] (2nd)
• Per capita	$9,000
GDP (nominal)	1990 estimate
• Total	$2.7 trillion[15] (2nd)
• Per capita	$9,000 (28th)
Gini (1989)	0.275 low
HDI (1990)	0.920[16] very high
Currency	Soviet ruble (руб) (SUR)
Time zone	(UTC+2 to +12)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+7
ISO 3166 code	SU
Internet TLD	.su
Preceded by Succeeded by 1922: Russian SFSR Ukrainian SSR Byelorussian SSR Transcaucasian SFSR 1924: Bukharan SSR Khorezm SSR 1939: Poland 1940: Finland Romania Estonia Latvia Lithuania 1944: Tuva 1945: Germany 1946: Czechoslovakia 1990: Lithuania Latvia Estonia Gagauzia 1991: Georgia Ukraine Belarus Artsakh Transnistria Moldova Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Tajikistan Armenia Azerbaijan Turkmenistan South Ossetia Chechnya Russia Kazakhstan
Notes ^ Declaration № 142-Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, formally establishing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a state and subject of international law (in Russian). ^ Original lyrics used from 1944 to 1956 praised Stalin. No lyrics from 1956 to 1977. Revised lyrics from 1977 to 1991 displayed. ^ All-union official since 1990, constituent republics had the right to declare their own official languages. ^ Assigned on 19 September 1990, existing onwards.

The Flag of the Soviet Union

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History of the Soviet Union
Background Communism Bolshevism World revolution Russian Social Democratic Labour Party Bolshevik split Bolshevik Party Russian Empire World War I February Revolution
1917–1927: Establishment October Revolution Russian Civil War Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Red Terror War communism New Economic Policy Treaty on the Creation of the USSR National delimitation Death and funeral of Lenin
1927–1953: Stalinism Socialism in one country Collectivization Soviet famine of 1932–1933 Holodomor Kazakhstan famine of 1932–1933 Industrialization Cultural Revolution Great Purge Moscow Trials World War II Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Great Patriotic War Operation Barbarossa Occupation of the Baltic states Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina Battle of Berlin Soviet invasion of Manchuria Soviet deportations Soviet famine of 1946–1947 Cold War Berlin Blockade Korean War First Indochina War Death and funeral of Stalin
1953–1964: Khrushchev Thaw East German uprising of 1953 Virgin Lands campaign 1954 transfer of Crimea Khrushchev Thaw De-Stalinization ""On the Cult of Personality" We will bury you 1956 Georgian demonstrations Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Wage reforms Peaceful coexistence Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution Sino-Soviet split Space program Cuban Missile Crisis
1964–1982: Era of Stagnation Brezhnev Doctrine Era of Stagnation 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide protests Six-Day War Détente Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Operation Menu Cambodian Civil War Fall of Saigon Yom Kippur War Prague Spring Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Wars in Africa Angolan War of Independence Angolan Civil War Mozambican War of Independence Mozambican Civil War South African Border War Rhodesian Bush War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Soviet–Afghan War 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic boycotts 1980 Olympic boycott 1984 Olympic boycott Polish strike Death and funeral of Brezhnev
1982–1991: Decline and collapse Invasion of Grenada Glasnost Perestroika Chernobyl disaster Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan Singing Revolution Estonian Sovereignty Declaration Baltic Way Lithuanian independence Economic blockade Latvian independence Revolutions of 1989 Pan-European Picnic Peaceful Revolution Fall of the Berlin Wall Velvet Revolution End of communist rule in Hungary Romanian Revolution German reunification Dissolution of the Soviet Union Jeltoqsan First Nagorno-Karabakh War April 9 tragedy Black January Osh riots War of Laws Dushanbe riots January Events The Barricades Referendum Union of Sovereign States August Coup Ukrainian revolution independence declaration referendum Belovezha Accords Alma-Ata Protocol
Soviet leadership Lenin Stalin Malenkov Khrushchev Brezhnev Andropov Chernenko Gorbachev List of troikas
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An index of articles related to the former nation known as the Soviet Union. It covers the Soviet revolutionary period until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This list includes topics, events, persons and other items of national significance within the Soviet Union. It does not include places within the Soviet Union, unless the place is associated with an event of national significance (e.g., Moscow). This index also does not contain items related to Soviet Military History.

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D

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G

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H

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Lists

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M

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N

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O

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P

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R

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S

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U

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V

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W

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Y

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Z

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See also

• Index of articles related to the Russian Revolution and Civil War
• Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War
• Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union
• Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union
• Lists of country-related topics
• List of Russian people

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Notes

References