The Southern Federal District (Russian: Южный федеральный округ, IPA: [ˈjuʐnɨj fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnɨj ˈokrʊk]) is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its territory lies mostly on the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Southern Russia. The Southern Federal District shares borders with Ukraine, the Azov Sea, and the Black Sea in the west, and Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea in the east.
The Southern Federal District was originally called the North Caucasian Federal District when it was founded on 13 May 2000, but was renamed for political reasons on 21 June 2000. On 19 January 2010, the Southern Federal District was split in two, with its former southern territories forming a new North Caucasian Federal District.
On 28 July 2016, Crimean Federal District (which contains the Republic of Crimea and the Federal city of Sevastopol) was abolished and merged into Southern Federal District in order to "improve the governance". Crimean Federal District was established on 21 March 2014 after the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. The federal district includes both the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol, both recognized as part of Ukraine by most of the international community. Ukraine considers the area, along with the areas of Luhansk People's Republic, the Donetsk People's Republic, Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as temporarily occupied territories. Its population was 13,854,334 (62.4% urban) according to the 2010 Census, living in an area of 420,900 square kilometers (162,500 sq mi).
