Governorate

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A governorate or governate is an administrative division of a state that is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term governorate is typically used to calque divisions of non-English-speaking administrations.

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The most common usage are as a translation of Persian "Farmandari" or the Arabic Muhafazah . [1] It may also refer to the guberniya and general-gubernatorstvo of Imperial Russia or the gobiernos of Imperial Spain.

Arab countries

The term governorate is widely used in Arab countries to describe an administrative unit. Some governorates combine more than one Muhafazah ; others closely follow traditional boundaries inherited from the Ottoman Empire's vilayet system.

With the exception of Tunisia, all translations into the term governorate originate in the Arabic word muhafazah.

Germany

In the modern German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as others in the past, there are sub-state administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke , lit.'governmental districts', which are sometimes translated into English as "governorates" (also "regions" or "counties" in the US sense). [2] [3]

During the time of the Third Reich, a "General Government for the Occupied Polish Areas" (German : Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) existed. The German (based on a traditional Prussian term) is sometimes translated as General Governorate.

Greece

The "New Lands" added to the Kingdom of Greece by the 19121913 First Balkan War Epirus, Macedonia, Crete, and islands in the eastern Aegean Sea initially continued their Ottoman divisions and administrators but these were overseen by new Greek governor generals. The territory was reorganized in 1915 amid the First World War, but the governorate generals (Greek : Γενικαὶ Διοικήσεις, Genikaí Dioikíseis, sing.Γενική Διοίκησις, Genikí Dioíkisis) continued in use in various forms until their complete abolishment in 1955.

Italian Empire

Portuguese Empire

In the Portuguese Empire, a governorate general (Portuguese: governo-geral) were a colonial administration. They usually were created in order to be a centralized government over smaller colonies or territories of the Portuguese Empire.

Governorate Generals of the Portuguese Empire:

Romania

During World War II, Romania administrated three governorates, two of them part of Romania, the Bessarabia Governorate and the Bukovina Governorate, and one under Romanian administration, but not as an integral part of Romania, the Transnistria Governorate.

Russian Empire

Congress Kingdom of Poland

Grand Duchy of Finland

Spanish Empire

In the Spanish Empire, the gobernaciones ("governorships" or "governorates") were an administrative division, roughly analogous to a province directly beneath the level of the audiencia or captaincy general, and the viceroy in areas directly under the viceroy's administration. The powers and duties of a governor were identical to a corregidor but a governor managed a larger or more prosperous area than the former.

Ukraine

When Ukraine claimed autonomy in 1917 and then independence from Russia in 1918, it inherited the imperial subdivision of its land with nine governorates, two okruhas, and three cities with special status. Each governorate (Ukrainian huberniia) was subdivided by the smaller unit of county ( povit ) and still smaller volost .

By the end of the Soviet-Ukrainian war in 1920, the Soviets had made them part of the Ukrainian SSR. [4] Soviet Ukraine was reorganized into twelve governorates, which were reduced to nine in 1922, and then replaced with okruhas in 1925. [5]

Vatican City

Under the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, the pope's executive authority for Vatican City is exercised by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, a legislative body led ex officio by the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State. The other key officers of the Governorate are the General Secretary and the Vice General Secretary. All three officers are appointed by the pope for five-year terms. [6]

Related Research Articles

An okrug is a type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states. The word okrug is a loanword in English, alternatively translated as area, district, or region.

A governorate was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in the Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics, and in the Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 until 1929. The term is also translated as government or province. A governorate was headed by a governor, a word borrowed from Latin gubernator, in turn from Greek κυβερνήτης.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilayah</span> Administrative division approximating a state or province

A wilayah is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic root "w-l-y", "to govern": a wāli—"governor"—governs a wālāya, "that which is governed". Under the Caliphate, the term referred to any constituent near-sovereign state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oblasts of Ukraine</span> Type of first-level administrative division of Ukraine

An oblast in Ukraine, sometimes translated as region or province, is the main type of first-level administrative division of the country. Ukraine's territory is divided into 24 oblasts, as well as one autonomous republic and two cities with special status. Ukraine is a unitary state, thus the oblasts do not have much legal scope of competence other than that which is established in the Ukrainian Constitution and devolved by law. Articles 140–146 of Chapter XI of the constitution deal directly with local authorities and their competence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavo-Serbia</span> Territory of Imperial Russia from 1753 to 1764

Slavo-Serbia or Slaveno-Serbia was a territory of Imperial Russia from 1753 to 1764. It was located to the south of the Donets River, between the Bakhmutka River and Luhan River. This area today is located within present-day Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. The administrative centre of Slavo-Serbia was Bakhmut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uezd</span> Historic Russian administrative subdivision

An uezd, or povit in a Ukrainian context, or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the Russian SFSR, and the early Soviet Union, which was in use from the 13th century. For most of Russian history, uezds were a second-level administrative division. By sense, but not by etymology, uezd approximately corresponds to the English "county".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danylo Apostol</span> Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host from 1727 to 1734

Danylo Pavlovych Apostol was Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host from 1727 to 1734.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podolia Governorate</span> 1793–1925 unit of Russia

Podolia Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessarabia Governorate to the south, and Austria to the west. Its administrative centre was Kamenets-Podolsky (Kamianets-Podilskyi), which later moved to Vinnitsa (Vinnytsia). The governorate covered areas of Ukraine's partially Khmelnytskyi and most of Vinnytsia Oblasts, along with the fractionally recognised state of Transnistria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kherson Governorate</span> 1803–1920 unit of Russia

Kherson Governorate, known until 1803 as Nikolayev Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kherson. It encompassed 71,936 square kilometres (27,775 sq mi) in area and had a population of 2,733,612 inhabitants. At the time of the census in 1897, it bordered Podolia Governorate to the northwest, Kiev Governorate to the north, Poltava Governorate to the northeast, Yekaterinoslav Governorate to the east, Taurida Governorate to the southeast, Black Sea to the south, and Bessarabia Governorate to the west. It roughly corresponds to what is now most of Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Odesa Oblasts in Ukraine and some parts of Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volhynia Governorate</span> 1795–1925 unit of Russia

Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of 71,736 square kilometres (27,697 sq mi) and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate bordered Grodno and Minsk Governorates to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Podolia Governorate to the south, Lublin and Siedlce Governorates, and after 1912, Kholm Governorate and Austria to the west. Its capital was in Novograd-Volynsky until 1804, and then Zhitomir. It corresponded to most of modern-day Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr Oblasts of Ukraine and some parts of Brest and Gomel Regions of Belarus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiev Governorate</span> 1802–1925 unit of Russia

Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It included the territory of the right-bank Ukraine and was formed after a division of the Kiev Viceroyalty into Kiev and Little Russia Governorates in 1796. Its capital was in Kiev. By the early 20th century, it consisted of 12 uyezds, 12 cities, 111 miasteczkos and 7344 other settlements. After the October Revolution, it became part of the administrative division of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1923 it was divided into several okrugs and on 6 June 1925 it was abolished by the Soviet administrative reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Development of the administrative divisions of Ukraine</span>

Administrative divisions development in Ukraine reviews the history of changes in the administrative divisions of Ukraine, in chronological order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okruhas of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic</span> Administrative divisions of the Ukrainian SSR

An okruha is a historical administrative division of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic that existed between 1923 and 1930. The system was intended as a transitional system between the Russian Imperial division of governorates and the modern equivalent of oblasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chernihiv Governorate</span> 1802–1925 unit of Russia and Ukraine

Chernihiv Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit of the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian SSR, existing from 1918 to 1925. It was inherited from the Russian system of territorial subdivisions that existed prior to World War I. Specifically, Chernigov Governorate, also known as the Government of Chernigov, was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of the left-bank Ukraine and was officially created in 1802 from Malorossiya Governorate with its capital in Chernigov (Chernihiv). Little Russian Governorate was transformed into the General Government of Little Russia and consisted of Chernigov Governorate, Poltava Governorate, and later Kharkov Governorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro</span>

The Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro was a colonial administration of the Portuguese Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Governorate General of Bahia</span>

The Governorate General of Bahia was a colonial administration of the Portuguese Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Administrative divisions of Ukraine (1918–1925)</span>

The administrative division of Ukraine in 1918 was inherited from the Russian Empire, and based on the largest unit of the gubernia with smaller subdivisions county or district, and rural district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kolomak Raion</span> Former subdivision of Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine

Kolomak Raion was a raion (district) in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center was the urban-type settlement of Kolomak. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast to seven. The area of Kolomak Raion was merged into Bohodukhiv Raion. The last estimate of the raion population was 6,677

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novorossiya</span> Territory of the Russian Empire (1764–1917)

Novorossiya is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine: the region immediately north of the Black Sea and Crimea. The province fell largely within a slightly wider area known in Ukrainian as the Stepovyna "Steppe Land", or Nyz "Lower Land". The name Novorossiya, which means New Russia, entered official usage in 1764, after the Russian Empire conquered the Crimean Khanate, and annexed its territories, when Novorossiya Governorate was founded. Official usage of the name ceased after 1917, when the entire area was incorporated in the Ukrainian People's Republic.

The union of Bukovina with Romania was declared in 28 November 1918, being officially recognized by the international community in 1919 and 1920.

References

  1. Law, Gwillim (November 23, 1999). Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 Through 1998 . McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-6097-7.
  2. "English Translation of "Regierungsbezirk" | Collins German-English Dictionary". Collins German-English Dictionary. April 15, 2022. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  3. Leipzig, F.A. Brockhaus Verlag (1928). Der Grosse Brockhaus: Handbuch des Wissens, Volume 1 (in German). Leipzig, Germany: Brockhaus. p. 274.
  4. Zadorozhnii, Oleksandr (2016). International law in the relations of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Kyiv: Ukrainian Association of International Law. pp. 54, 60. ISBN   978-617-684-146-3. OCLC   973559701.
  5. Kohut, Zenon E.; Nebesio, Bohdan Y.; Yurkevich, Myroslav (2005). "Administrative Divisions of Ukraine". Historical dictionary of Ukraine. Bohdan Y. Nebesio, Myroslav Yurkevich. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   0-8108-5387-6. OCLC   57002343.
  6. Pope John Paul II (November 26, 2000). "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-23.