Yekaterinoslav Governorate

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Yekaterinoslav Governorate

Екатеринославская губерния

Катеринославська губернія

A historic map of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate.
Capital city	Yekaterinoslav
Area	76,912 km² (1925)
Population (1897) - Density	2,113,700 p/km²
Uyezds	8 (1802-1874) 9 (1874-1887) 8 (1887-1925)
Major towns	Aleksandrovsk, Krovoy Rog, Mariupol, Pavlohrad Yekaterinoslav
Nationalities (1914) - Ukrainians - Russians - Jews - Other	69.5% 18.2% 4.2% 8%
Dates of existence	1802 to 1925

An old postcard depicting Yekaterinoslav (Dnipopetrovsk) the governorate's capital at the time.

The Yekaterinoslav Governorate (Russian: Екатеринославская губерния; translit.: Yekaterinoslavskaya guberniya; Ukrainian: Катеринославська губернія, translit.: Katerynoslaks`ka guberniya) was an administrative-territorial unit in the Russian Empire. Its capital was the city of Yekaterinoslav (Dnipopetrovsk).

[edit] Administrative divisions

In 1764, the Novorossiya guberniya had been created to administer much of the historical Southern Ukrainian region, including the lands of the Zaporozhian Host after the destruction of the New Sich in 1775. The governorate was replaced by the Yekaterinoslav Vicegerency in 1783 but was again reinstated in 1796. In 1802, its territory was divided among the newly created Nikolayev Governorate (from 1803 Kherson Governorate), Taurida Governorate, and Yekaterinoslav Governorate. The newly created Yekaterinoslav Governorate consisted of Yekaterinoslav and Verkhnodniprovske uyezds west of the Dnieper River, and Bakhmut, Novomoskovske, Aleksandrovsk (Zaporizhzhia), Pavlohrad, Slovianoserbske, and Rostov-na-Donu uyezds east of the river. In 1874, the Aleksandrovsk uyezd was divided to create the Mariupol uyezd, and in 1887, the Rostov-na-Donu uyezd was transferred to the Don Cossacks Oblast.

During Soviet rule, the governorate was abolished in 1925, and its territory, 76,912 km², was divided among seven okrugs: Yekaterinoslav, Aleksandrovsk, Berdyansk (Berdiansk), Zaporozhye (Zaporizhzhia), Krivoy Rog (Kryvyi Rih), Melitopol, and Pavlograd (Pavlohrad).

[edit] Demographics

The governorate's population, a majority of peasants, was 662,000 in 1811, 902,400 in 1851, 1,204,800 in 1863, and 1,792,800 in 1885. From the second half of the 19th century, the governorate was the coal-mining and metallurgical center of the then Ukraine, incorporating the Dnieper Industrial Region and the Donbass (Donets Basin).

Its population increased to 2,113,700 by 1897. The nationalities within the governorate were: Ukrainians (69.5 %), Russians (18.2 %), Jews (4.2 %), Germans (4 %), Greeks (2.3 %), and Tatars (1.1 %). In 1924, the governorate had 3,424,100 (13.6 % urban) inhabitants, living in 5,165 settlements, 36 of them being cities and urban-type settlements. At that time about half of the inhabitants were non-Ukrainian, and the largest social class was that of workers (about 25 %).