Former republics

The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), and the former Soviet republics, are the 15 sovereign states that were union republics of the Soviet Union, which emerged and re-emerged as independent countries from the Soviet Union following its dissolution in 1991. In Russia and in English translations of Russian texts, the corresponding area is instead referred to as near abroad (Russian: ближнее зарубежье, romanized: blizhneye zarubezhye).