Commonwealth of Independent States: Meaning and Definition of

Com'monwealth of In'dependent States'

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. an alliance of former Soviet republics formed in December 1991, including: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Abbr.: C.I.S.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.