MOSCOW, September 01. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's oldest news agency Itar-Tass celebrates its 110th anniversary on Monday, September 1.

The agency began to operate as the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA) on September 1, 1904. It was renamed the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) in 1918.

In 1925 the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) was founded to replace ROSTA. TASS was known across the globe as the Soviet Union's leading news agency.

The agency was named the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (Itar-Tass) in January 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Itar-Tass today is one of Russia's leading news agencies. Among the agency's subscribers are 1,000 media, 200 diplomatic missions, 250 companies and banks, and 200 industrial enterprises, research and educational organizations and libraries.

Itar-Tass has a unique correspondent network comprising more than 70 bureaus abroad and 50 regional centres and offices across Russia.

Itar-Tass is an active and authoritative member of world and regional media organizations, including the News Agencies World Congress (NAWC), European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and others. At the initiative of Itar-Tass the World Association of the Russian Press - the world’s sole worldwide association of Russian-speaking journalists - was established in 1999.