| History of the administrative division of Russia |
|---|
| 1708–1710 |
| 1710–1713 |
| 1713–1714 |
| 1714–1717 |
| 1717–1719 |
| 1719–1725 |
| 1725–1726 |
| 1726–1727 |
| 1727–1728 |
| 1728–1744 |
| 1744–1764 |
The modern administrative-territorial structure of Russia' is a system of territorial organization which is a product of a centuries-long evolution and reforms.
Contents |
The Kievan Rus' as it formed in the 10th century remained a more or less unified realm under the rule of Yaroslav the Wise (d. 1054), but in the later part of the 11th century, it disintegrated into a number of de facto independent and rivaling principalities, the most important of which were Galicia–Volhynia, Novgorod, and Vladimir-Suzdal. These principalities were gradually integrated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow during the 14th and 15th centuries, at the time a vassal state of the Turco-Mongol Ulus of Jochi. After 1480, Ivan III began to style himself Tsar. Ivan the Terrible was the first ruler to be crowned as the Tsar of All Russia in 1547.
From the 13th century, the Russian principalities used an administrative subdivision into uyezds, with each such uyezd being subdivided into several volosts. Voyevodas were the officials appointed to administer and defend the uyezds.
On December 29 [O.S. December 18], 1708, in order to improve the manageability of the vast territory of the Russian Empire, Tsar Peter the Great issued an ukase (edict) dividing Russia into eight administrative divisions, called governorates (guberniyas), which replaced the 166 uyezds which existed before the reform.[1] The governorates were Arkhangelgorod, Azov, Ingermanland, Kazan, Kiev, Moscow, Siberia, and Smolensk.[1]
| Governorates of the Russian Empire (1708-1726) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1708-1709 | Kazan | Ingermanland | Azov | Smolensk | ||||||||||||||
| 1710-1712 | Saint Petersburg | |||||||||||||||||
| 1713 | Moscow | Riga | ||||||||||||||||
| 1714-1716 | N. Novgorod | |||||||||||||||||
| 1717-1718 | Astrakhan | |||||||||||||||||
| 1719-1724 | Nizhny Novgorod | Reval | ||||||||||||||||
| 1725 | Voronezh | |||||||||||||||||
| 1726 | Smolensk | |||||||||||||||||
| The Governorates of Archangelgorod, Kiev and Siberia remained constant between 1708 and 1726. | ||||||||||||||||||
The reform of 1708 neither set the borders of the governorates nor established their internal divisions.[1] The governorates were defined as the sets of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities.[1] Some older subdivision types also continued to be used. Between 1710 and 1713, all governorates were subdivided into lots (Russian: доли).[1] Every governorate was administered by an appointed governor. In 1719, Peter enacted another administrative reform to fix the deficiencies of the original system, as the governorates were too big and unmanageable. This reform abolished the system of lots, dividing most of the governorates into provinces (провинции), which were further divided into districts (Russian: дистрикты).
During this time, territories were frequently reshuffled between the governorates, and new governorates were added to accommodate population growth and territorial expansion.
In 1727, soon after Peter the Great's death, Catherine I enacted another reform, which rolled back many of the previous reform's developments. The system of districts was abolished, and the old system of uyezds was restored. A total of 166 uyezds was re-established; together with the newly created uyezds, the Russian Empire had approximately 250.
The reform also reshuffled some territories. Narva Province was transferred from Saint Petersburg Governorate to Revel Governorate; Solikamsk and Vyatka Provinces were transferred from Siberia Governorate to Kazan Governorate; and Uglich and Yaroslavl Provinces were transferred from Saint Petersburg Governorate to Moscow Governorate. In addition, Belgorod, Oryol, and Sevsk Provinces of Kiev Governorate were reconstituted as Belgorod Governorate; and Belozersk, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, and Velikiye Luki Provinces of Saint Petersburg Governorate were reconstituted as Novgorod Governorate.
The following years saw few changes. In 1728, Ufa Province was transferred from Kazan Governorate to Siberia Governorate, and in 1737, Simbirsk Province was created within Kazan Governorate.
By 1775, the existing system of administrative divisions proved inefficient, which was further underlined by Pugachev's Rebellion, and Catherine the Great issued a document known as Decree on the Governorates (Russian: Учреждение о губерниях).[2] The second part of the same decree was issued in 1780, which, however, contained very few significant changes with respect to the first part.[3]
After the abolition of Russian serfdom in 1861, volosts became a unit of peasant's local self-rule. A number of mirs were united into a typical volost, which had an assembly consisting of elected delegates from the mirs. The self-government of the mirs and volosts was tempered by the authority of the police commissaries (stanovoy) and by the power of general oversight given to the nominated "district committees for the affairs of the peasants".
The Russian SFSR comprised 16 autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, 10 autonomous okrugs, six krais, and 40 oblasts.
Uyezds and volosts were abolished by the Soviet administrative reform of 1923–1929. Raions may be roughly called a modern equivalent of the uyezds, and selsoviets may be considered a modern equivalent of the volosts.
The subdivision type of Federal District was created in May 2000 by Vladimir Putin as a part of a wider program designed to reassert federal authority. The original division was into seven federal districts, but in 2010 the North Caucasian Federal District was split off the Southern Federal District.