The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetskiy Soyuz), also officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik), abbreviated to USSR (in English) and CCCP (in Russian), is a socialist state on the Eurasian continent. A union of 15 subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy are highly centralized. The Soviet Union stretches 11 time zones.