An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state.
A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia.
Many of these republics were established during the Soviet period as Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, or ASSRs.
[1] The designation also can refer to the following 16 former French territories in Africa before 1960, when all gained independence, except for Djibouti, which voted in a referendum to remain part of France as an overseas department: