The Soviet Union was a political and economic union comprised of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The union was founded in 1922 and was characterised by a command economy; an economic system in which the state manages resources directly and allocates them to its citizens. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.