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 kyvernítis.
The modern administrative-territorial structure of Russia is a system of territorial organization which is a product of a centuries-long evolution and reforms.
Taurida Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River with the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. It formed after Taurida Oblast was abolished in 1802 during the course of Paul I's administrative reform of the territories of the former Crimean Khanate which were annexed by Russia in 1783. The governorate's centre was the city of Simferopol. The name of the province was derived from Taurida, a historical name for Crimea.
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.
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.
Kholm Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kholm (Chełm).
Poltava Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of left-bank Ukraine and was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Little Russia Governorate, which was split between Chernigov and Poltava Governorates with its capital in Poltava.
Kharkov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) 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 Sloboda Ukraine Governorate. In 1780–1796 there existed the Kharkov Viceroyalty.
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.
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.
Novorossiya Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1764–1783 and again in 1796–1802. It was created and governed according to the "Plan for the Colonization of New Russia Governorate" issued by the Russian Senate. It became the first region in Russia where Catherine the Great allowed foreign Jews to settle.
Orenburg Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. Its capital in 1797–1802 and 1865–1928 was Orenburg, and Ufa in 1802–1865.
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.
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 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 Russia Governorate was transformed into the General Government of Little Russia and consisted of Chernigov Governorate, Poltava Governorate, and later Kharkov Governorate.
Voronezh Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1708 to 1779 and again from 1796 to 1928. Its capital was located in Voronezh since 1725.
Governorates-General were a type of administrative-territorial division in the Russian Empire from 1775 to 1917. Governorates-General usually comprised a set of guberniyas and oblasts. The term was occasionally used to refer to krais or military guberniyas. Moscow and Saint-Petersburg Governorates were placed into a separate governorate-general.
Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. It was established in December 1708 as one of the eight guberniyas first created during the reforms of Peter the Great.
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.
Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, and the Russian SFSR, roughly corresponding to the Upper and Middle Volga region and what is now most of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. In the early 20th Century, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate bordered Kostroma and Vyatka governorates to the north, Vladimir Governorate to the west, Kazan and Simbirsk governorates to the east, and Penza with Tambov governorates to the south.
Novgorod-Seversky Viceroyalty, sometimes Novgorod-Seversky Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (namestnichestvo) of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1781–1796. Its capital was in Novgorod-Seversky.
