Baltic governorates

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The Baltic governorates were the governorates (or guberniyas) of the Russian Empire on the territory of what in 1918 became, and is now, independent Estonia and Latvia.

The Baltic governorates consisted of the historic regions of Courland, Livland, and Estland which border on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The dominions of Swedish Estonia and Swedish Livonia became the governorates of Revel and Riga, when they were conquered by Russia in during the Great Northern War, and then ceded by Sweden in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Notably, both Revel Governorate and Riga Governorate were each at the time subdivided into one province only: the province of Estland and the province of Livland, respectively. The third Baltic province of Courland was annexed into Russian Empire with the third division of Poland (1795).

In some context, the province of Ingermanland on the far-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea or, more rarely, the province of Kovno in the present-day Lithuania is also included among Baltic Provinces. The latter became part of Russian Empire during Partitions of Poland in late 18th century and became a part of independent Lithuania in 1918.

[edit] Lithuanian governorates

In 1843 another administrative reform took place. Unofficially three governorates were considered to be Lithuanian: Vilnius Governorate, Kaunas Governorate and Suvalkai Governorate. Also, some parts of Courland Governorate and Grodna Governorate could be also considered as Lithuanian.