Reval Governorate

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Reval Governorate (Ревельская губерния or Revel guberniya) was a governorate of the Russian Empire. Named after the city of Reval, today known as Tallinn, it was created in 1719 out of territories conquered from Sweden in the Great Northern War. The former dominion of Swedish Estonia was formally ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. While the rule of the Swedish Kings had been fairly liberal with greater autonomy granted for the peasantry, the regime was tightened under the Russian Tsars and serfdom was not abolished until 1819.

The governorate consisted the northern part of the present-day Estonia approximately corresponding to Harjumaa including the city of Tallinn, Western Virumaa, Eastern Virumaa, Raplamaa, Järvamaa, Läänemaa and Hiiumaa until April 12, 1917 (March 30. Old Style), when it was expanded to include northern Livonia and after that it corresponded roughly to the present territory of Estonia.

Estonia (Estland) was one of the three Baltic provinces along with Livonia and Courland of the Russian Empire. It remained under Russian control until February 24, 1918 when the Estonian independence was declared. That date remained as the Independence Day (Iseseisvuspäev) of the republic until World War II, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union and in 1940 the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was set up by the Soviets, lasting until 1991.