Commonwealth of Independent States

Epic card · No. 14525

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of states in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of 20,368,759 km2 (7,864,422 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 246,200,194. The CIS encourages cooperation in economic, political, and military affairs and has certain powers related to the coordination of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, including the prevention of cross-border crime. As the USSR disintegrated, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed the Belovezha Accords on 8 December 1991, declaring that the Union had effectively ceased to exist and proclaiming the CIS in its place. On 21 December, these three former Soviet republics and eight additional ones signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which established the founding declarations and principles of the CIS. Georgia joined the CIS in 1993 but withdrew its membership in 2008 following a war with Russia. Ukraine formally ended...

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