Talk:Federal subjects of Russia

Re: Ingushetia: is Magas or Nazran the capital city? It was apparently moved in the 1990s, according to the Magas article and [1] (http://www.statoids.com/uru.html). olivier 09:48, Jun 25, 2004 (UTC)

Magas is currently the administrative center of Ingushetia. It was started to be built in 1995, and became the administrative center in 2002 (the article incorrectly states that it happened in 1995 — I will fix that).--Ezhiki 13:40, Jun 25, 2004 (UTC)

On the second map there are two seperate regions number 29. One is Arkangelsk, as stated in the list, the other I can't identify (it lies in the far east, next to Mongolia). Can someone knowledgeable correct this?siafu 00:35, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Should be 79 (Jewish Autonomous Oblast). I will let the creator of the image know.—Ëzhiki (erinaceus europeaus) 00:56, Mar 4, 2005 (UTC)

Done. Although I'm just the uploader, not the creator :) – Kpalion (talk) 09:41, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Oh, I didn't know that. I assumed that since you already worked on this map, you already have some templates and could make a cleaner change than me, who would have to do it surgically :) Anyway, thanks for taking care of it.—Ëzhiki (erinaceus europeaus) 16:05, Mar 4, 2005 (UTC)

Note: recently in referendum Taymyr and Evenk autonomous districts were incorporated into the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Change accordingly. DeirYassin 15:18, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

"Were incorporated"? Not quite. The change will only be effective from January 1 2007 onwards, and the necessary comments have been added to the three federal subjects in question. Nightstallion 15:32, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Federal subjects—not a good name?

Just because subject is a cognate does not mean it is a proper translation. Referring to subdivisions of a country as "subjects" doesn't make any sense in English. john k 19:07, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Maybe "units" would be better?..

Or "subdivisions," maybe? john k 20:07, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

"Federal subjects" is a literal translation of the Russian term "федеральные субъекты". They are referred to as "federal subjects" in both Russian and English media. You could call them "administrative regions", I guess, which is pretty much what they are, but that would not be an accurate definition. Calling them "subdivisions" is also not accurate, as Russian subdivisions include not only federal subjects per se, but also other unit types (see Subdivisions of Russia, which is a separate article for that very same reason). "Units" is not going to work as it is way too ambiguous; plus, it is not really a proper definition in this context.

Perhaps it would help if you put "federal subjects" in the same row as "oblasts", "krais", and "okrugs". All of these can be translated to clarify what the meaning of the term is, but they are still used as is to describe administrative entities properly.

—Ëzhiki (erinaceus amurensis) 20:38, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)

Well, doing a lexis-nexis search, I do find reference to federal subjects, sadly. Mostly in the form of translations of quotes from Russian officials, but whatever. A bunch of federal subjects in Siberia have apparently decided to merge, BTW. At any rate, I withdraw my objection, despite the horridness of having to use the phrase "federal subject." john k 21:59, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Well, you see, I do not really like it myself, how it sounds. Before separating this article from the "Subdivisions of Russia", I honestly spent two days researching if another usable, accurate translation could be used, and came up with nothing better. I guess one has to remember that horridness of "federal subjects" in English directly corresponds with horridness of "федеральные субъекты" in Russian. Russians eventually got used to this newly invented term, but that does not make it sound any less artificial.—Ëzhiki (erinaceus amurensis) 23:39, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)