Russia - or, officially, the Russian Federation - consists of a number of regions, so called, oblasts, krays and okrugs. Oblasts and krays are mainly defined territorially while Okrugs are mostly inhabited by indigenous peoples, such as Yakuts, Nenets and so on. These areas are located in the North and East of the country.
The term "Near Abroad" emerged in the early 1990's after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country that had consisted of 15 constituent republics. When those republics, the main of those being Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, got their independence, they actually became neighboring countries bordering the republic that was the core of the USSR - Russia. There is also another unifying term for those independent countries - FSU, Former Soviet Union, as the aggregate territory.
All other surrounding countries are considered the "Far Abroad" or the outside world.
Russia is its own sovereign nation; it is not composed of other independent countries. It does have four semi-autonomous regions, or okrugs. These are Nenetsia, Yamalia, Khanty Mansi, and Chukotka. These are remote regions located within the borders of the Russian Federation that operate more or less independently.
The Near Abroad is a term that refers to the former Soviet states that became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. There are fourteen countries other than Russia that were part of the Soviet Union. They include the following: the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan; the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia; the Caucasus Mountain countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; and the Eastern Slavic states of Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova. Russia still considers these countries part of its sphere of influence and frequently asserts its political, social, and economic influence over them.
https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/22/magazine/on-language-the-near-abroad.html
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