Former communist states
Executive summary
As of 2025, most mainstream listings identify five countries that constitutionally remain one‑party, Marxist‑Leninist or socialist states commonly described as “communist”: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea [1] [2] [3]. Many more countries were communist in the 20th century—most notably the USSR and its Eastern Bloc allies—which collapsed or transformed in the 1989–1991 period [4] [5].
1. What people mean by “former communist states” — two common definitions
“Former communist states” can mean (A) countries that once had governments led by communist parties or Marxist‑Leninist constitutions but later abandoned them (for example, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and many Soviet republics), or (B) polities that no longer exist at all (for example, the U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia) — both usages appear across the literature and popular lists [6] [4] [7].
2. The big wave: revolutions of 1989 and the U.S.S.R. breakup
Political reforms under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev combined with socio‑economic stress produced the Revolutions of 1989 that brought down the Eastern Bloc communist governments (except the Soviet Union itself at the time), and those events set in motion the breakup and transitions that followed through 1991 [4] [5]. The dismantling of Soviet‑style regimes is the core reason many European states are now described as “former communist” [4].
3. Examples of well‑known former communist countries
Lists and encyclopedias frequently cite the U.S.S.R., East Germany, North Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and South Yemen among entities that were once communist but have since dissolved, unified, or transitioned away from communist rule [6] [7] [8]. Individual successor states of the Soviet Union—Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and others—are commonly noted as former Soviet republics that emerged after the U.S.S.R. collapse [9].
4. Why “former” does not always mean identical transitions
Transitions from communist rule varied widely: some countries adopted market reforms and multiparty systems quickly; others experienced slow hybrid changes or authoritarian continuities despite new party labels. Coverage emphasizes that many former socialist economies embraced market elements and removed explicit socialist language from constitutions over decades [6] [3]. Available sources do not give a single, universally accepted road map for what “post‑communist” governance looks like.
5. Who still calls themselves communist — and why that matters
Several sources insist that only five countries today constitutionally identify as one‑party socialist/communist states: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea. These sources also note variations in practice — for example, China has substantial market reforms and private wealth alongside one‑party rule, and North Korea emphasizes Juche rather than classic Marxism while being commonly labeled communist by outside observers [1] [3] [10].
6. The historiographical and political debate over labels
Scholars and commentators disagree on labels: some call Soviet‑era economies “state capitalist” rather than truly communist, and experts debate whether regimes implemented communism, socialism, or other variants [9] [5]. This disagreement affects which states get called “former communist” versus “former socialist” or “post‑Soviet,” a nuance frequently noted in the sources [9] [5].
7. Practical implications — what ‘former’ means for citizens and policy
Reporting and academic work show that life‑outcomes after communist rule were uneven: some citizens experienced loss of guaranteed social benefits and insecurity during transitions, and nostalgia for aspects of socialism reemerged in parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union [5]. Coverage emphasizes that political, economic and social consequences of the collapse differ country by country [5].
8. Where the coverage is thin or contested
Sources catalog many former communist states and list the five current ones, but available reporting does not provide a single definitive roster of every former communist‑ruled territory with transition dates and outcomes in one place; different outlets emphasize different examples [6] [3] [8]. If you want a precise country‑by‑country timeline or comparative dataset, that specific consolidated list is not present across these sources.
If you’d like, I can produce a concise table grouping (A) current one‑party communist/socialist states, (B) dissolved communist entities (like the U.S.S.R. and Yugoslavia), and (C) former communist states that transitioned to non‑communist governments, with citations to the sources above.