Akhaltsikhe uezd

Akhaltsikhe *uezd*
Ахалцихский уезд
Akhaltsikhe uezd Ахалцихский уезд
Uezd
	Coat of arms
	Location in the Tiflis Governorate
Country	Russian Empire
Viceroyalty	Caucasus
Governorate	Tiflis
Established	1840
Abolished	1930
Capital	Akhaltsikh; (present-day Akhaltsikhe)
Area
• Total	2,653.82 km2 (1,024.65 sq mi)
Population (1916)
• Total	96,947
• Density	37/km2 (95/sq mi)
• Urban	26.27%
• Rural	73.73%

Last updated January 17, 2025

The Akhaltsikhe uezd^[b] was a county ( uezd ) of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative center in Akhaltsikh (present-day Akhaltsikhe).^[1] The uezd bordered the Gori uezd and the Kutaisi Governorate to the north, the Akhalkalaki uezd to the east, the Ardahan Okrug of the Kars Oblast to the south, and the Batum Okrug of the Batum Oblast to the west. The area of the uezd corresponded to part of the contemporary Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia.

History

The territory of the Akhaltsikhe uezd, entered into the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828. By 1840, the Аkhaltsikhe uezd was formed as a civilian district of the Tiflis Governorate. In 1874, the Akhalkalaki uezd was detached from it as a separate county.^[1]

Following the Russian Revolution, the Akhaltsikhe uezd was incorporated into the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia.^[1]

Lord Curzon during the Paris Peace Conference assessed the ethnographic situation in the southwestern uezds of the Tiflis Governorate:^[2]^[3]

On the grounds of nationality, therefore, these districts ought to belong to Armenia, but they command the heart of Georgia strategically, and on the whole it would seem equitable to assign them to Georgia, and give their Armenian inhabitants the option of emigration into the wide territories assigned to the Armenians towards the south-west.

Administrative divisions

The subcounties ( uchastoks ) of the Akhaltsikhe uezd in 1913 were as follows:^[4]

Name	1912 population	Area
Atskhurskiy uchastok (Ацхурский участок)	19,433	859.55 square versts (978.22 km² ; 377.69 sq mi )
Koblianskiy uchastok (Кобліанский участок)	27,572	727.97 square versts (828.48 km² ; 319.88 sq mi )
Uravelskiy uchastok (Уравельский участок)	20,230	744.46 square versts (847.24 km² ; 327.12 sq mi )

Demographics

Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Akhaltsikhe uezd had a population of 68,837 on 28 January [ O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 36,807 men and 32,030 women. The plurality of the population indicated Turkish to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian, Tatar,^[c] and Georgian speaking minorities.^[7]

Linguistic composition of the Akhaltsikhe *uezd* in 1897^[7]
Language	Native speakers	%
Turkish	24,137	35.06
Armenian	15,144	22.00
Tatar^[c]	12,370	17.97
Georgian	12,211	17.74
Russian	1,743	2.53
Kurdish	1,396	2.03
Ukrainian	490	0.71
Jewish	446	0.65
Polish	435	0.63
Greek	149	0.22
German	88	0.13
Lithuanian	88	0.13
Chechen	15	0.02
Ossetian	14	0.02
Persian	12	0.02
Romanian	12	0.02
Assyrian	10	0.01
Avar-Andean	6	0.01
Belarusian	5	0.01
Czech	5	0.01
Kazi-Kumukh	5	0.01
Latvian	3	0.00
Chuvash	2	0.00
French	2	0.00
Imeretian	2	0.00
Kyurin	1	0.00
Talysh	1	0.00
Other	45	0.07
TOTAL	68,837	100.00

Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar , the Akhaltsikhe uezd had a population of 96,947 on 14 January [ O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 51,549 men and 45,398 women, 93,847 of whom were the permanent population, and 3,100 were temporary residents:^[8]

Nationality	Urban		Rural		TOTAL
Nationality	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Georgians	2,783	10.93	42,709	59.75	45,492	46.92
Armenians	18,165	71.32	10,060	14.07	28,225	29.11
Sunni Muslims ^[d]	30	0.12	16,680	23.34	16,710	17.24
Jews	3,246	12.74	5	0.01	3,251	3.35
Kurds	0	0.00	1,801	2.52	1,801	1.86
Russians	716	2.81	88	0.12	804	0.83
Roma	457	1.79	14	0.02	471	0.49
Asiatic Christians	0	0.00	89	0.12	89	0.09
Other Europeans	53	0.21	28	0.04	81	0.08
North Caucasians	16	0.06	3	0.00	19	0.02
Shia Muslims ^[e]	4	0.02	0	0.00	4	0.00
TOTAL	25,470	100.00	71,477	100.00	96,947	100.00

Notes

↑ Western Armenian pronunciation: [ɑχɑlt͡sʰχɑˈjikʰɑˈvɑr]
↑
- Russian: Ахалцихский уезд, pre-reform orthography : Ахалцихскій уѣздъ, romanized: Akhaltsikhskiy uyezd [ɐxəɫt͡sɨxskʲɪjʊ(j)ɪst]
- Georgian :ახალქალაქის მაზრა, romanized:akhalkalakis mazra [aχalkʰaɫakʰismazɾa]
- Armenian: Ախալցխայի գավառ, classical orthography : Ախալցխայի գաւառ, romanized: Axalc̕xayi gawaṙ [ɑχɑlt͡sʰχɑˈjiɡɑˈvɑr] ^[a]
- Turkish: Ahıska kazası [ahɯskakazasɯ]
1 2 Before 1918, Azerbaijanis were generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred to Turkic-speaking Muslims of the South Caucasus. After 1918, with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and "especially during the Soviet era", the Tatar group identified itself as "Azerbaijani".^[5]^[6]
↑ Primarily Turco-Tatars.^[9]
↑ Primarily Tatars.^[9]

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 3 Tsutsiev 2014.
↑ Britain, Cab 27/37, E.C. 2525.
↑ Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 267. ISBN 0-520-01805-2. OCLC 238471.
↑ Кавказский календарь на 1913 год, pp. 164–175.
↑ Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).
↑ Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.
1 2 "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
↑ Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 206–213.
1 2 Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.

Bibliography

Bournoutian, George A. (2018). Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-06260-2. OCLC 1037283914.

Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971). The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520019843.
Кавказский календарь на 1913 год [Caucasian calendar for 1913] (in Russian) (68th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1913. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022.
Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus (PDF). Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300153088. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2023.

41°38′20″N42°59′10″E / 41.63889°N 42.98611°E / 41.63889; 42.98611

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[1] Western Armenian pronunciation: [ɑχɑlt͡sʰχɑˈjikʰɑˈvɑr]

[2] 
Russian: Ахалцихский уезд, pre-reform orthography : Ахалцихскій уѣздъ, romanized: Akhaltsikhskiy uyezd [ɐxəɫt͡sɨxskʲɪjʊ(j)ɪst]
Georgian :ახალქალაქის მაზრა, romanized:akhalkalakis mazra [aχalkʰaɫakʰismazɾa]
Armenian: Ախալցխայի գավառ, classical orthography : Ախալցխայի գաւառ, romanized: Axalc̕xayi gawaṙ [ɑχɑlt͡sʰχɑˈjiɡɑˈvɑr] ^[a]
Turkish: Ahıska kazası [ahɯskakazasɯ]

[mwAaM] Russian: Ахалцихский уезд, pre-reform orthography : Ахалцихскій уѣздъ, romanized: Akhaltsikhskiy uyezd [ɐxəɫt͡sɨxskʲɪjʊ(j)ɪst]

[mwAbY] Georgian :ახალქალაქის მაზრა, romanized:akhalkalakis mazra [aχalkʰaɫakʰismazɾa]

[mwAcU] Armenian: Ախալցխայի գավառ, classical orthography : Ախալցխայի գաւառ, romanized: Axalc̕xayi gawaṙ [ɑχɑlt͡sʰχɑˈjiɡɑˈvɑr] ^[a]

[mwAdo] Turkish: Ahıska kazası [ahɯskakazasɯ]

[Caucasian_Tatars-9] 1 2 Before 1918, Azerbaijanis were generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred to Turkic-speaking Muslims of the South Caucasus. After 1918, with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and "especially during the Soviet era", the Tatar group identified itself as "Azerbaijani".^[5]^[6]

[13] Primarily Turco-Tatars.^[9]

[14] Primarily Tatars.^[9]

[FOOTNOTETsutsiev2014-3] 1 2 3 Tsutsiev 2014.

[4] Britain, Cab 27/37, E.C. 2525.

[5] Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 267. ISBN 0-520-01805-2. OCLC 238471.

[FOOTNOTEКавказский_календарь_на_1913_год164–175-6] Кавказский календарь на 1913 год, pp. 164–175.

[FOOTNOTEBournoutian201835_(note_25)-7] Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).

[FOOTNOTETsutsiev201450-8] Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.

[:0-10] 1 2 "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.

[FOOTNOTEКавказский_календарь_на_1917_год206–213-11] Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 206–213.

[FOOTNOTEHovannisian197167-12] 1 2 Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.

[b]

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[2]

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[4]

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v t e Subdivisions of the Russian Empire
Governorates (List)	Azov ¹ +Altai² Arkhangelsk Archangelgorod Astrakhan Belgorod Bessarabia Bratslav Belarus Caucasus Chernigov Grodno Finland Iziaslav Ingermanland Irkutsk Kazan Kaluga Kiev (1708) Kiev Kharkov Kherson Kholm Kovno Kolyvan Kostroma Kursk Lithuania Little Russia (1764) Little Russia (1796) Minsk Mogilev Moscow Nikolayev Nizhny Novgorod Novgorod-Seversky Novgorod Novorossiya Olonets Orenburg Oryol Penza Perm Petrograd² Podolia Polotsk* Poltava Pskov Ryazan Samara Saint Petersburg Saratov Siberia Simbirsk Sloboda Ukraine Slonim Smolensk Stavropol Taurida Tambov Tver Tobolsk Tomsk Tula Ufa Vilna Vitebsk Vladimir Voznesensk Vologda Volhynia Voronezh Vyatka Vyborg Yaroslavl Yekaterinoslav Yeniseysk
Oblasts	Amur Belostok Bessarabia Don Host Transbaikal Kamchatka Caspian Kwantung Orenburg Kirghiz Omsk Primorskaya Sakhalin Taurida Tarnopol Turgay Ural Yakutsk
Oblasts of Stepnoy Krai	Akmolinsk Siberian Kirghiz Semipalatinsk
Oblasts of Turkestan Krai	Transcaspian Samarkand Semirechye Oblast Syr-Darya Oblast Turkestan Fergana
Caucasus Viceroyalty	Baku (Governorate) Black Sea Derbent Elizavetpol Erivan Georgia-Imeretia Georgia Kutaisi Shemakha Tiflis Armenian Batum Dagestan Imeretia Kars Kuban Terek Sukhumi Zakatal Baku (Gradonachalstvo)
Baltic Governorates³	Courland Livonia Reval Riga Estonia
Governorates of Finland	Abo-Byorneborg Vaza Vyborg Kuopio Nyuland Sankt-Mikhel Tavastgus Uleaborg
Governorates of Poland	Avgustov Warsaw Kalish Keltsy Krakov Lomzha Lyublin Mazovia Petrokov Plotsk Podlyashye Radom Sandomir Sedlets Suvalki
Governorates of Galicia and Bukovina	Lvov Peremyshl Tarnopol Chernovtsy
Dependencies	Bukey Horde Emirate of Bukhara Khanate of Kokand Russian America Uryankhay Krai² Khanate of Khiva Zeravshan Okrug*
¹ Italics indicates renamed or abolished governorates, oblasts, etc on 1 January 1914. ² An asterisk (+) indicates governorates formed or created with renaming after 1 January 1914. ³ Ostsee or Baltic general-governorship was abolished in 1876.