The Commonwealth of Independent States was created in December 1991, upon the disbanding of the Soviet Union. At this time, 12 of the 15 former republics of the U.S.S.R make up the CIS, they are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The CIS is not a state in itself, rather, it is an alliance of fully independent states. The policy of the CIS is set through coordinating bodies, the two main bodies being the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government. The capitol of the Commonwealth of Independent States is in Minsk, Belarus.

For more detailed information about the Commonwealth of Independent States, use the links below.

Commonwealth of Independent States (Background)
Head-Quarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Meetings of the leaders of the CIS member states
Free Trade Zone of the Commonwealth’s countries
Contribution by the First Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee at the Second meeting of the WISS Preparatory Committee