Chernigov Governorate

The Chernigov Governorate (Russian: Черниговская губернiя; translit.: Chernigovskaya guberniya), also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire, which was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate with an administrative centre of Chernihiv. Its modern borders are roughly consistent of the modern Chernihiv Oblast, but also included a large section of Sumy Oblast and smaller sections of the Kiev Oblast of Ukraine, in addition to most of the Bryansk Oblast, Russia.

Administrative division

The governorate consisted of 15 uyezds:

• Borzna - Борзна,
• Glukhov - Глухов,
• Gorodnya - Городня,
• Kozelets - Козелец,
• Konotop - Конотоп,
• Krolevets - Кролевец,
• Nezhin- Нѣжинъ,
• Novgorod-Seversky - Новгород-Северский,
• Oster - Остёр,
• Sosnitsa - Сосница,
• Chernihiv - Чернигов,
• Mglin - Мглин,
• Novozybkov - Новозыбков,
• Starodub - Стародуб,
• Surazh - Сураж.

The Chernigov Governorate covered a total area of 52,396 km², and had a population of 2,298,000, according to the 1897 Russian Empire census. In 1914, the population was 2,340,000. After the formation of the Ukrainian SSR the territory was partitioned along ethnic borders with the four northern uyezds with mostly Belorussian and Russian population (Mglin, Novozybkov, Starodub, Surazh) were transferred to the newly formed Gomel Governorate (then part of the RSFSR), and in 1926 - to the Bryansk Governorate.

On March 7, 1923 the territory of Chernigov Governorate was reorganized into five okrug:

1. Konotop
2. Nizhyn
3. Novhorod-Siversky
4. Snovsk (liquidated on June 10, 1925)
5. Chernihiv

Principal cities

• Russian Census of 1897

• Nezhin - 32,113 (Ukrainian - 21,733, Jewish - 7,578, Russian - 2,366)
• Chernihiv - 27,716 (Ukrainian - 10,085, Jewish - 8,780, Russian - 7,985)
• Konotop - 18,770 (Ukrainian - 10,290, Jewish - 4,415, Russian - 3,565)
• Novozybkov - 15,362 (Russian - 11,055, Jewish - 3,787, Belorussian - 303)
• Glukhov - 14,828 (Ukrainian - 8,621, Jewish - 3,837, Russian - 2,217)
• Borzna - 12,526 (Ukrainian - 10,846, Jewish - 1,515, Russian - 109)
• Starodub - 12,381 (Russian - 7,255, Jewish - 4,897, Ukrainian - 133)
• Krolevets - 10,384 (Ukrainian - 8,328, Jewish - 1,815, Russian - 209)
• Berezna - 9,922 (Ukrainian - 8,349, Jewish - 1,354, Russian - 144)
• Novgorod-Seversky - 9,182 (Ukrainian - 4,884, Jewish - 2,941, Russian - 1,296)
• Mglin - 7,640 (Russian - 4,840, Jewish - 2,675, Belorussian - 75)
• Sosnitsa - 7,087 (Ukrainian - 5,068, Jewish - 1,840, Russian - 158)
• Korop - 6,262 (Ukrainian - 5,309, Jewish - 865, Russian - 77)
• Oster - 5,370 (Ukrainian - 3,229, Jewish - 1,596, Russian - 399)
• Kozelets - 5,141 (Ukrainian - 2,834, Jewish - 1,632, Russian - 468)
• Pogar - 4,965 (Russian - 3,800, Jewish - 1,159, Germans - 6)
• Gorodnya - 4,310 (Ukrainian - 2,349, Jewish - 1,248, Russian - 604)
• Surazh - 4,006 (Jewish - 2,400, Belorussian - 978, Russian - 559)
• Novoye Mesto - 1,488 (Russian - 1,421, Jewish - 67)

Language

• By the Imperial census of 1897^[1]. In bold are languages spoken by more people than the state language.

See also

• List of governors of Chernigov Governorate

References and notes

External links