Tatarstan (Russian and Tatar: Татарстан), officially known as the Republic of Tatarstan, is a republic of the Soviet Union. Tatarstan issued a declaration of sovereignty on August 30, 1990, with the temporary name of the Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic (TSSR) (Russian:Татарская Советская Социалистическая Республика [ТССР], Tatarskaya Sovetskaya Sotsalisticheskaya Respublika). Tatarstan was recognized as a union republic on February 16, 1993.