A governorate ( Russian : губе́рния , romanized : gubérniya , pre-1918 spelling : губе́рнія , IPA: [ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə] ) 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 ( губернатор , gubernator ), a word borrowed from Latin gubernator , in turn from Greek kyvernítis ( Greek : κυβερνήτης ).
18-662: 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
36-448: A governor of an oblast or a krai . The Russian Empire had nine governorates in modern-day Ukrainian territories: Chernigov , Kharkov , Kherson , Kiev , Podolia , Poltava , Volhynia , Yekaterinoslav , and Taurida . Additional lands annexed from Poland in 1815 were organized into the Kholm governorate in 1912. After the events of 1917, which led to the declaration of independence of
54-413: A population of 3,018,299, including 1,505,940 men and 1,512,359 women. The majority of the population indicated Little Russian to be their mother tongue, with a significant Jewish speaking minority. 48°40′50″N 26°34′50″E / 48.6806°N 26.5806°E / 48.6806; 26.5806 Guberniya Selected governorates were united under an assigned governor-general such as
72-598: A subdivision of government until it was abolished on 1 August 1925. Together with the government of Podilia, the Haisyn okruha was dissolved as well. Some territory of Tulchyn okruha were included into the newly formed Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . Russian Census of 1897: According to the Russian Empire Census on 28 January [ O.S. 15 January] 1897, the Podolia Governorate had
90-711: The Grand Duchy of Finland , Congress Poland , Russian Turkestan and others. There were also military governors such as Kronstadt , Vladivostok and others. Aside from governorates, other types of divisions were oblasts (region) and okrugs (district). This subdivision type was created by the edict ( ukase ) of Peter the Great on December 18, 1708 "On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them", which divided Russia into eight governorates . In 1719, governorates were further subdivided into provinces ( Russian : провинции , romanized : provintsii ). Later
108-833: The Ukrainian People's Republic , these governorates became subdivisions, which also annexed Ukrainian-inhabited parts of Mogilev , Kursk , Voronezh and Minsk governorates in 1918. By the end of the Soviet–Ukrainian War in 1920, the Bolsheviks had made them part of the Ukrainian SSR . Soviet Ukraine was reorganized into 12 governorates, which were reduced to nine in 1922 upon the Soviet Union 's founding, and then replaced with okruhas in 1925. The West Ukrainian People's Republic in former Austro-Hungarian Empire territory
126-460: The Ukrainian SSR , which dissolved it into five okruhas. The Government of Podolia was established right after the Second Partition of Poland in place of the former Podole and Bracław Voivodeships in 1793. The Podolia Governorate occupied the southwestern frontier of the former Russian empire, bordering Austria-Hungary , and had an area of about 42,000 km. The administrative centre
144-596: The tsar , government, or a religious leadership (e.g., Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' or the Most Holy Synod ) that had the force of law. " Edict " and " decree " are adequate translations using the terminology and concepts of Roman law . From the Russian term, the word ukase has entered the English language with the meaning of "any proclamation or decree; an order or regulation of a final or arbitrary nature". Prior to
162-508: The 1917 October Revolution , the term applied in Russia to an edict or ordinance, legislative or administrative, having the force of law. A ukase proceeded either from the emperor or from the senate, which had the power of issuing such ordinances for the purpose of carrying out existing decrees. All such decrees were promulgated by the senate. A difference was drawn between the ukase signed by the emperor’s hand and his verbal ukase, or order, made upon
180-685: The Soviet Union into particular territorial units was subject to numerous changes, especially during the 1918–1929 period. Because of the Soviet Union's electrification program under the GOELRO plan , Ivan Alexandrov directed the Regionalisation Commission of Gosplan to divide the Soviet union into thirteen European and eight Asiatic oblasts , using rational economic planning rather than "the vestiges of lost sovereign rights". Eventually, in 1929,
198-466: The fractionally recognised state of Transnistria . It was created from the Second Partition of Poland , which 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 Kamenets-Podolsky, which later moved to Vinnitsa. The governorate still existed until the administrative reforms of
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#1732852587611216-615: The number of governorates was increased to 23 . By the reform of 1775, subdivision into governorates and further into uezds ( Russian : уезды ), was based on population size, and the term guberniya was replaced by the synonym of Russian origin: namestnichestvo ( наместничество ), sometimes translated as "viceroyalty", other times as " vicegerency ". The term guberniya , however, still remained in use. These viceroyalties were governed by namestniki ( наместник ) (literal translation: "deputy") or " governors general " ( генерал-губернатор , general-gubernator ). Correspondingly,
234-403: The subdivision was replaced by the notions of oblast, okrug , and raion . Oblast as a unit was used even before the revolution, although unlike governorates it designated remote areas that usually incorporated huge swaths of land. In post-Soviet states such as Russia and Ukraine, the term Guberniya is considered obsolete, yet the word gubernator was reinstated and is used when referring to
252-485: The term governorate general ( генерал-губернаторство , general-gubernatorstvo ) was in use to refer to the actual territory being governed. The office of governor general had more administrative power and was in a higher position than the previous office of governor. Sometimes a governor general ruled several governorates. By the ukase of the Russian Senate of December 31, 1796, the office of governorate general
270-717: Was Kamenets-Podolskiy until 1914 when it moved to Vinnytsia . Podolia Governorate was one of the three governorates of the Southwestern Krai administration. In 1917 it was recognized by the Russian Provisional Government to be governed by the General Secretariat of Ukraine as the representative of the Russian Provisional Government in the region. Until 1918 the governorate consisted of 12 uyezds (counties): On 12 April 1923 all uyezds (counties) were transformed into okruhas (counties), while volosts (districts) – into raions (districts). Okruhas served as
288-515: Was also applied to subdivisions of the Kingdom of Poland ("Russian Poland") and the Grand Duchy of Finland . After the February Revolution , the Russian Provisional Government renamed governors into governorate commissars . The October Revolution left the subdivision in place, but the governing apparatus was replaced by governorate soviets ( губернский совет ). Actual subdivisions of
306-478: Was demoted to the previous level of governorate, and Russia was again divided into governorates, which were subdivided into uezds, further subdivided into volosts ( волость ); nevertheless several governorates general made from several governorates existed until the Russian Revolution of 1917 . The governorate ( Russian : губе́рния , Polish : gubernia , Swedish : län , Finnish : lääni ) system
324-574: Was not subdivided into governorates, and would be annexed by the Second Polish Republic from 1920 until the Soviet invasion of 1939 . There is another meaning of the word as it denoted a type of estate in Lithuania of the until 1917. Ukase In Imperial Russia , a ukase ( / j uː ˈ k eɪ z , - ˈ k eɪ s / ) or ukaz ( Russian : указ [ʊˈkas] ) was a proclamation of
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