Tiflis Governorate

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Tiflis Governorate
Тифлисская губернія
Coat of arms of Tiflis Governorate 1878.svg
Tiflis Governorate ATD.png
Administrative map of the Tiflis Governorate
Country Russian Empire
Viceroyalty Caucasus
Established1846
Abolished1917
CapitalTiflis
(present-day Tbilisi)
Area
  Total40,861.03 km2 (15,776.53 sq mi)
Highest elevation5,034 m (16,516 ft)
Population
 (1916)
  Total1,473,308
  Density36/km2 (93/sq mi)
   Urban
40.90%
   Rural
59.10%

The Tiflis Governorate [lower-alpha 1] was a province ( guberniya ) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants. [1] The Tiflis Governorate bordered the Elizavetpol Governorate to the southeast, the Erivan Governorate to the south, the Kars Oblast to the southwest, the Batum Oblast to the west, the Kutaisi Governorate to the northwest, the Terek Oblast to the north, the Dagestan Oblast to the northeast, and after 1905, the Zakatal Okrug to the east. The governorate covered areas of central and southeastern Georgia, the partially recognised state of South Ossetia, most of the Lori Province of Armenia, small parts of northwestern Azerbaijan, and a minuscule southern part of Ingushetia within Russia.

Contents

History

Tiflis Governorate was established in 1846 along with the Kutaisi Governorate, after the dissolution of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. It was initially formed from uezds of Tiflis, Gori, Telavi, Signakh, Elizavetpol, Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol and the okrugs of Zakatal, Ossetian and Tushino-Pshavo-Khevsurian. In 1849, uezds of Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol were attached to Erivan Governorate. In 1859, the Ossetian Okrug became part of Gori district and Tushino-Pshavo-Khevsurian Okrug was renamed to Tionety Okrug. In 1867, the northern part of Tiflis uezd was separated into the Dusheti uezd, while Akhaltsikhe uezd which was created after ceding from Ottoman Empire to Russian Empire in 1829, was detached from Kutaisi Governorate and part of Tiflis one. In 1868 Elizavetpol uezd (in the same decree, the Kazakh uezd was formed from it) became a part of the Elizavetpol Governorate. In 1874, the southern part of Akhaltsikhe uezd became the Akhalkalaki uezd, and the Tionety okrug was elevated to an uezd . Finally, the southern part of Tiflis uezd was detached to become the Borchaly uezd.

The Tiflis Governorate lasted within these boundaries for some 50 years until the Russian Revolution and subsequent founding of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918. [2] The governorate and its counties were soon abolished after its incorporation into the Soviet Union and reorganised into the raions (counties) of the Georgian SSR by 1930.

Administrative divisions

The counties ( uezds ) of the Tiflis Governorate in 1917 were as follows: [3] [4]

DistrictRussian nameCapitalPopulationArea
18971916
Akhalkalaki Ахалкалакскій уѣздъ Akhalkalaki 72,709107,1732,407.00 square versts (2,739.32  km2 ; 1,057.66  sq mi )
Akhaltsikhe Ахалцихскій уѣздъ Akhaltsikhe 68,83796,9472,331.88 square versts (2,653.82  km2 ; 1,024.65  sq mi )
Borchaly Борчалинскій уѣздъShulavery (Shaumiani)128,587169,3516,046.96 square versts (6,881.82  km2 ; 2,657.08  sq mi )
Gori Горійскій уѣздъ Gori 191,091241,0166,007.56 square versts (6,836.98  km2 ; 2,639.77  sq mi )
Dusheti Душетскій уѣздъDushet (Dusheti)67,71966,4303,411.80 square versts (3,882.84  km2 ; 1,499.17  sq mi )
Signakh Сигнахскій уѣздъSignakh (Signagi)102,313153,8645,291.79 square versts (6,022.39  km2 ; 2,325.26  sq mi )
Telavi Телавскій уѣздъTelav (Telavi)66,76767,9552,162.91 square versts (2,461.53  km2 ; 950.40  sq mi )
Tiflis Тифлисскій уѣздъTiflis (Tbilisi)234,632521,2224,004.08 square versts (4,556.89  km2 ; 1,759.43  sq mi )
Tionety Тіонетскій уѣздъTioneti (Tianeti)34,15349,3504,250.06 square versts (4,836.83  km2 ; 1,867.51  sq mi )
Zakatal Закатальскій округъZakataly (Zaqatala)84,224 [lower-alpha 2] 3,502.24 square versts (3,985.77  km2 ; 1,538.91  sq mi )

Demographics

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, the Tiflis Governorate had a population of 1,051,032, including 575,447 men and 475,585 women. The plurality of the population indicated Georgian to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian, Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani), Russian, and Ossetian speaking minorities. [3]

Linguistic composition of the Tiflis Governorate in 1897 [3]
LanguageNative speakers%
Georgian 465,53744.29
Armenian 196,18918.67
Tatar [lower-alpha 3] 107,38310.22
Russian 79,0827.52
Ossetian 67,2686.40
Avar-Andean 34,1303.25
Greek 27,1182.58
Turkish 24,7222.35
German 8,3400.79
Dargin 7,5650.72
Ukrainian 6,4430.61
Polish 6,2820.60
Jewish 5,1880.49
Kurdish 2,5380.24
Chechen 2,2070.21
Persian 1,9910.19
Assyrian 1,5700.15
Imeretian 1,5460.15
Lithuanian 1,2630.12
Kyurin 1,1490.11
Mingrelian 4980.05
French 3560.03
Kist 2960.03
Italian 2590.02
Belarusian 2470.02
Czech 2290.02
Romanian 1980.02
Kazi-Kumukh 1970.02
Talysh 1520.01
Chuvash 1480.01
Latvian 1230.01
Other8180.08
TOTAL1,051,032100.00
Religious composition of the Tiflis Governorate in 1897 [5]
FaithMaleFemaleBoth
Number%
Eastern Orthodox 319,930264,891584,82155.64
Armenian Apostolic 113,39996,762210,16120.00
Muslim 104,50084,528189,02817.98
Armenian Catholic 10,3639,85320,2161.92
Old Believer 8,1568,05316,2091.54
Roman Catholic 8,6302,91411,5441.10
Judaism 5,6424,0689,7100.92
Lutheran 4,2214,2578,4780.81
Baptist 1421222640.03
Reformed 4431750.01
Karaite 105150.00
Anglican 2790.00
Buddhist 3250.00
Mennonite 2350.00
Other Christian denomination183101930.02
Other non-Christian denomination220792990.03
TOTAL575,447475,5851,051,032100.00

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

According to the 1917 publication of the Caucasian Calendar, the Tiflis Governorate had 1,473,308 residents in 1916, including 780,010 men and 693,298 women, 1,255,176 of whom were the permanent population, and 218,132 were temporary residents: [4]

Nationality Urban Rural TOTAL
Number%Number%Number%
Georgians 62,62714.64580,00955.47642,63643.62
Armenians 197,91646.28213,83120.45411,74727.95
Russians [lower-alpha 4] 94,88522.1957,9245.54152,80910.37
Sunni Muslims [lower-alpha 5] 6,3531.4961,1645.8567,5174.58
Asiatic Christians 19,5604.5736,4103.4855,9703.80
North Caucasians 2,7140.6345,0374.3147,7513.24
Shia Muslims [lower-alpha 6] 9,4342.2129,5482.8338,9822.65
Other Europeans 12,0582.8212,8451.2324,9031.69
Jews 14,2963.344,9480.4719,2441.31
Kurds 2,2790.533,6530.355,9320.40
Yazidis 4,6971.1000.004,6970.32
Roma 8510.202690.031,1200.08
TOTAL427,670100.001,045,638100.001,473,308100.00

Governors

The administration tasks in the governorate were executed by a governor. Sometimes, a military governor was appointed as well. The governors of Tiflis Governorate were [8]

Notes

  1. The Zakatal Okrug was detached from the Tiflis Governorate in 1905 to be administered separately. As a special administrative okrug, Zakatal's population in 1916 was 92,608.
  2. Later known as Azerbaijani.
  3. The Caucasian Calendar did not distinguish between Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians.
  4. Primarily Turco-Tatars. [6]
  5. Primarily Tatars, [6] later known as Azerbaijanis. [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akhalkalaki uezd</span> Uezd in Caucasus, Russian Empire

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiflis uezd</span> Uezd in Caucasus, Russian Empire

The Tiflis uezd 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 Tiflis. The area of the uezd roughly corresponded to the contemporary Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia. The district bordered the Telavi uezd to the northeast, the Tionety and Dusheti uezds to the north, the Gori uezd to the northwest, the Borchaly uezd to the west, the Kazakh uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate to the south, and the Signakh uezd to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kutaisi uezd</span> Uezd in Caucasus, Russian Empire

The Kutaisi uezd was a county (uezd) of the Kutaisi Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the Akhaltsikhe uezd of the Tiflis Governorate to the south, the Ozurgeti and Senaki uezds to the west, the Lechkhumi and Racha uezds to the north, and the Shorapani uezd to the east. The area of the uezd corresponded to most of the contemporary Imereti region of Georgia. The Kutaisi uezd was eponymously named for its administrative center, Kutais.

References

  1. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedia: Tiflis Governorate (in Russian)
  2. Coats of Arms of the Cities of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate of the Russian Empire Archived 2008-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  4. 1 2 Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 206–213. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
  5. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  6. 1 2 Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.
  7. Bournoutian, George (2015). "Demographic Changes in the Southwest Caucasus, 1604-1830: The Case of Historical Eastern Armenia". Forum of EthnoGeoPolitics. Amsterdam. 3 (2): 35.
  8. Н. Ф. Самохвалов, ed. (2003). Губернии Российской Империи. История и руководители. 1708-1917. Moscow: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation. pp. 372–376, 467–468.

Bibliography

Further reading

Coordinates: 41°43′00″N44°47′00″E / 41.7167°N 44.7833°E