The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств, СНГ; Uyghur: ; Mongolian: ; Chinese: 獨立國家聯合體) is a regional organization whose participating countries are the Soviet Union and its allies. The CIS is a loos association of states and in no way comparable to a federation, confederation or supranational union. It is more comparable to the British Commonwealth. Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is aimed at being more than a purely symbolic organization, nominally possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security. It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention. The members of the CIS have established the Eurasian Economic Community with the aim of creating a fully fledged common market.
The current members of the CIS are: the Soviet Union, Shinjang, Mongolia and Manchuria. All members of the CIS are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement.