# people's republic
## English
### Etymology

Calque of Russian народная республика (narodnaja respublika) (from народный (narodnyj) + республика (respublika) “people's republic, popular republic, national republic”), coined in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Attested in English from 1918.

### Noun

people's republic (plural people's republics)
* A self-designation of states with Marxist-Leninist governments.
** 1918, New York Times, Current History, volume VII, page 289:The Ukrainian People’s Republic brings the following to the knowledge of all belligerents: The Central Rada, on Nov. 20, proclaimed a People’s Republic
** 1977, Hungdah Chiu, Normalization of Relations with the People's Republic of China (U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs), page 218:Some China experts argue that the internal difficulties of the People’s Republic in the foreseeable future would prevent it from taking military attack against Taiwan.
** 2018 December 30, Jyoti Rahman, “A people’s republic”, in Dhaka Times‎:The Front’s aim is to create a new republic, a true people’s republic.
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:people's republic.
* (usually capitalized, humorous) A particular area with strong left-leaning tendencies, especially one with a certain level of autonomy.
** 2013, Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald, Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People‎, page 133:Remember, this study was conducted in Massachusetts, in the politically liberal climate of the “People's Republic of Cambridge,” where parents strive almost as hard to create racially nonbiased behavior in their children as they do to get them into the proper school.
** 2015, “In Boulder, the People’s Republic revisted”, in The Denver Post‎:Boulder is one of the few places in the country where you don’t pull weeds out of your garden — you mix them into your brownies. You gotta love a city that everyone refers to as, “The People’s Republic of Boulder.”
* Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see people,‎ 's,‎ republic.

#### Usage notes

A Ukrainian People's Republic (Українська Народна Республіка) was declared in 1917. The term Народна Республіка at the time (1918-1919) was variously translated into English as "People's Republic" or as "National Republic", and rarely as "Popular Republic".
States using the same self-designation after World War II, such as the People's Republics of Yugoslavia (Federativna Narodna Republika Jugoslavija), Albania (Republika Popullore e Shqipërisë), Bulgaria (Народна република България), Romania (Republica Populară Romînă) and China (人民共和國 / 人民共和国 (rénmín gònghéguó)) were rendered in English as "people's republics", or rarely as "popular republics", but not as "national republics".

#### Synonyms

* (rare) popular republic
* (rare, obsolete) national republic

#### Derived terms

* Donetsk People's Republic
* Luhansk People's Republic
* Mongolian People's Republic
* People's Republic
* People's Republic of Bangladesh
* People's Republic of China

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “people’s republic”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* ↑ New York Times (1918) Current History, The European War edition, volume XIV, page 428: “And we, the Ukrainian Central Rada, by your will, for the sake of creating order in our country and for the sake of saving the whole of Russia, announce that henceforth Ukrainia becomes the Ukrainian National Republic.”
* ↑ The Times History of the War, volume 16, 1918, page 23: “[…] stipulations which involve recognition of the “Ukrainian Popular Republic” as an independent state, with, however only the western boundary provisionally delimited […]”

### Further reading

* “people's republic, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “people's republic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* “people’s republic”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “people's republic” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025.