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 ).
17-529: 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
34-448: 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
51-711: 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
68-833: 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
85-771: The guberniya was administered as a Viceroyalty ( namestnichestvo ). It was initially centred in Izyaslav and was called the Izyaslav Viceroyalty. It was primarily created from the Kiev Voivodeship and the eastern part of the Wolyn Voivodeship. On 24 October 1795, the Third Partition of Poland was imposed by Prussia , the Habsburg monarchy , and the Russian Empire . Then, on 12 December 1796, Volhynia Governorate
102-685: 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,
119-615: 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,
136-818: The population in the governorate spoke the Ukrainian language with slight variety of dialects. During the Ukrainian–Soviet War Zhitomir served as the provisional capital of Ukraine in 1918. After the Polish-Soviet war in 1920, and according to the Peace of Riga (1921) most of the territory became part of the Second Polish Republic and transformed into the Wołyń Voivodeship , with the capital in Łuck (Lutsk). The eastern portion existed until 1925 and
153-517: The seat of Volhynia Governorate. From 1832 to 1915, Volhynia Governorate, along with Kiev Governorate and Podolia Governorate , formed part of the Southwestern Krai General-Governorate–a militarized administrative-territorial unit. In the 1880s, the general-governorate was extended to include other governorates. In 1897, the population of the guberniya was 2,989,482 and by 1905, it had grown to 3,920,400. The majority of
170-471: 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 . It was created at the end of 1796 after the Third Partition of Poland from
187-403: 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
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#1732858341114204-485: 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
221-556: The territory of the short-lived Volhynian Vice-royalty and Wołyń Voivodeship . After the Peace of Riga , part of the governorate became the new Wołyń Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic , while the other part stayed as a part of the Ukrainian SSR until 1925 when it was abolished on resolution of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and Counsel of People's Commissars. Until 1796,
238-587: 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
255-478: 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
272-525: Was established, encompassing the remaining territory of the Wolyn Voivodeship and the Kowel Voivodeship . In 1796, the administration moved to Novograd-Volynsky . However, due to the lack of suitable buildings for administrative purposes, the capital was moved once again to Zhitomir ( Zhytomyr ). In 1802, Zhitomir was purchased the properties of Prince Ilyinsky, and in 1804, it officially became
289-817: Was later split into three okruhas: Shepetivka Okruha, Zhytomyr Okruha, and Korosten Okruha. Russian Census of 1897 According to the Russian Empire Census on 28 January [ O.S. 1897] 15 January, the Volhynian Governorate had a population of 2,982,482, including 1,502,803 men and 1,486,679 women. The majority of the population indicated Ukrainian to be their mother tongue, with significant Jewish , Polish , German , and Russian speaking minorities. 50°15′16″N 28°39′28″E / 50.2544°N 28.6578°E / 50.2544; 28.6578 Guberniya Selected governorates were united under an assigned governor-general such as
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