The Soviet Union ceased to exist in December of 1991 creating fifteen independent sovereign states. These nations include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Gross domestic product dropped by more than 40% overall across the region during this period. This contraction exceeded the 27% decline suffered by the United States during the Great Depression years of 1930 through 1934.
The Commonwealth of Independent States formed in December 1991 included twelve of the fifteen former republics excluding the three Baltic states. The three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had declared independence earlier in 1990 citing legal continuity from pre-1940 sovereignty.
The post-Soviet region encompasses thirty cities with populations exceeding one million residents. Russia leads with sixteen such cities including Moscow and Saint Petersburg followed by Kazakhstan and Ukraine each having three.
Transnistria declared independence in 1990 as an unrecognized Russian-backed state in eastern Moldova. A ceasefire between Transnistrian forces and Moldovan forces has been in place since 1992 enforced by the presence of Russian troops.