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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Description
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed in 1922 when the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) joined with three other countries. Between 1922-1940 15 other countries joined the Soviet Union. The union republics were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia (now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan (also spelled Kazakstan), Kirghiz (now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (now Moldova), Russia, Tadzhikistan (also spelled Tajikistan), Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
By the end of 1990 all 15 republics of the Soviet Union had passed laws which took precedence over laws passed by the central government.
By November 1991 all but two of the republics had declared their independence. On
8 December 1991 Yeltsin and the presidents of Belarus and the Ukraine met in Minsk, Belarus. They announced that they had formed a loose confederation called the Commonwealth of Independent States. They declared that the Soviet Union ceased to exist. On 25 December 1991 Gorbachev resigned from office, and the Soviet Union was officially dissolved.