A governorate, gubernia, province, or government, was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and in the Soviet Union from its formation until 1929. The term is also translated as government, governorate, or province. A governorate was headed by a governor, a word borrowed from Latin gubernator, in turn from Greek κυβερνήτης.
The Taurida Governorate was a historical governorate of the Russian Empire. It included the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River and the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. It was formed after the Taurida Oblast was abolished in 1802 in the course of Paul I's administrative reform of the territories of the former Crimean Khanate that was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783. The governorate's centre was the city of Simferopol. The province was named after the ancient Greek name of Crimea - Taurida.
The Podolia Governorate or Podillia Governorate was an administrative unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire from 1793 until 1925. Created from the Second Partition of Poland, the governorate was formed from the former Polish Bracław and Podole voivodeships, which are part of the Southwestern Krai along with Volhynia and Kiev. Its capital was located in Kamianets-Podilskyi, which later moved to Vinnytsia. The governorate still existed until the administrative reforms of the Ukrainian SSR, which dissolved it into five okruhas.
The Kherson Governorate, known until 1803 as the Nikolaev Governorate, was a province (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Kherson. The governorate 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 the Podolia Governorate to the northwest, the Kiev Governorate to the north, the Poltava Governorate to the northeast, the Yekaterinoslav Governorate to the east, the Taurida Governorate to the southeast, the Black Sea to the south, and the Bessarabia Governorate to the west. It roughly corresponds to what is now most of Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Odesa Oblasts and some parts of Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts.
The Yekaterinoslav Governorate, also known by Ukrainian common name Katerynoslavshchyna, was a governorate of the Russian Empire, with its capital located in Yekaterinoslav. The governorate covered 63,392 square kilometres (24,476 sq mi) of area, and was composed of the inhabitant of 2,113,674 by the census of 1897. The Yekaterinoslav Governorate bordered the Poltava Governorate to the north, the Don Host Oblast to the east, the Sea of Azov to the southeast, the Taurida Governorate to the south, and the Kherson Governorate to the east, and covered the area of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts of Ukraine.
The Vilna Governorate was a governorate of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. In 1897, the governorate covered the area of 41,907.9 square kilometres (16,180.7 sq mi) and a population of 1,591,207 inhabitants. The governorate was defined by the Minsk Governorate to the south, the Grodno Governorate to the southwest, the Suwałki Governorate to the west, the Kovno and Courland Governorates to the north, and the Vitebsk Governorate to the east. The administrative centre was located in the city of Vilna. The city also served as the administrative centre of the Vilna Governorate-General, which existed until 1912. The area roughly corresponded to the Vilnius Region, which was later occupied by Germany, Bolsheviks, and Poland.
The Poltava Governorate or Poltavshchyna was a gubernia in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate, which was split between the Chernigov Governorate and Poltava Governorate with an administrative center of Poltava.
The Kharkov Governorate was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From 1765 to 1780 and from 1796 to 1835 the governorate was called the Sloboda Ukraine Governorate. In 1780-1796 there existed the Kharkov Viceroyalty.
The Volhynian Governorate or Volyn Governorate was a province (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 the Grodno and Minsk Governorates to the north, the Kiev Governorate to the east, the Podolia Governorate to the south, the Lublin and Siedlce Governorates, and after 1912, the Kholm Governorate and Austria to the west. The administrative centre was Zhitomir, until 1804, its administrative centre was located in Novograd-Volynsky. It corresponded to most of Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr Oblasts of Ukraine and some parts of Brest and Gomel Regions of Belarus.
Kiev Governorate was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It was formed as a governorate in the right-bank Ukraine region after a division of the Kiev Viceroyalty into the Kiev and the Little Russia Governorates in 1796, with its administrative centre 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.
During its existence from 1919 to 1991, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic consisted of many administrative divisions. Itself part of the highly centralized Soviet Union, sub-national divisions in the Ukrainian SSR were subordinate to higher executive authorities and derived their power from them. Throughout the Ukrainian SSR's history, other national subdivisions were established in the republic, including guberniyas and okrugs, before finally being reorganized into their present structure as oblasts. At the time of the Ukrainian SSR's independence from the Soviet Union, the country was composed of 25 oblasts (provinces) and two cities with special status, Kiev, the capital, and Sevastopol, respectively.
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 as a result of the February Revolution, and in June, it declared Ukrainian autonomy within Russia. Its autonomy was later recognized by the Russian Provisional Government. Following the October Revolution, the Central Council of Ukraine denounced the Bolshevik seizure of power and proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic with a territory including the area of approximately eight Russian imperial governorates. It formally declared its independence from Russia on 22 January 1918.
Novorossiya, literally "New Russia", 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 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 Etchmiadzin uezd was a county (uezd) of the Erivan Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. The uezd bordered the Alexandropol uezd to the north, the Nor Bayazet uezd to the east, Erivan uezd to the north, the Surmalu uezd to the south, and the Kars Oblast to the west. It included all of the Armavir Province and most of the Aragatsotn Province of present-day Armenia. The administrative centre of the county was Vagorshapat (Vagharshapat), also referred to as Etchmiadzin—the administrative capital of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Vilna uezd was a county (uezd) of the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire, with the administrative centre in Vilna. The uezd was bordered by the Sventsyany uezd to the east, the Oshmyany and Lida uezds to the south, the Troki uezd to the west, and the Vilkomir uezd of the Kovno Governorate to the north. The district covered the area of modern Vilnius County of Lithuania.
The Aleksandriya uezd was a county (uezd) of the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire. It bordered the Chigirin uezd of the Kiev Governorate to the north, the Kremenchug uezd to the northeast, the Verkhnedneprovsk uezd of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate to the east, the Kherson uezd to the south, and the Elisavetgrad uezd to the west. The Aleksandriya uezd was eponymously named for its administrative center, Aleksandriya.
The Elisavetgrad uezd was a county (uezd) of the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire, with its administrative center in Yelisavetgrad. It bordered the Zvenigorodka and Chigirin uezds of the Kiev Governorate to the north, the Aleksandriya uezd to the east, the Kherson uezd to the south, and the Ananev uezd to the west. The uezd corresponded to Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv Oblasts.
The Odessa uezd was a county (uezd) of the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire. The uezd bordered the Tiraspol and Ananev uezds to the north, the Elisavetgrad uezd to the northeast, the Kherson uezd to the east, the Black Sea to the south, and the Akkerman uezd of the Bessarabia Governorate to the west. The administrative centre of the county was Odessa (Odesa).
The Tiraspol uezd was a county (uezd) of the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire. The uezd bordered the Balta uezd of the Podolia Governorate to the north, the Ananev uezd to the east, the Odessa uezd to the south, and the Akkerman and Bendery uezd of the Bessarabia Governorate to the west. The administrative centre of the county was Tiraspol. The area of the Tiraspol uezd corresponded to most of Odesa Oblast and the breakaway territory of Transnistria, which is a part of Moldova.
The Baku uezd was a county (uezd) within the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Azerbaijan SSR until its formal abolishment in 1929. The uezd was located in eastern part of the Baku Governorate, bordering Caspian sea to the east, Shemakha uezd to the west, Kuba uezd to the north and Lenkoran uezd to the south. The administrative center of the uezd was the village Sarai.
