Poltava Governorate

The Poltava Governorate (Russian: Полтавская губернія; translit.: Poltavskaya guberniya, Ukrainian: Полтавська Губернія) or Government of Poltava was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate, which was split between the Chernigov Governorate and Poltava Governorate with an administrative center of Poltava.

Poltava Governorate
Полтавская губернія
Governorate of Russian Empire
1802–1925
Flag

An old map showing the Poltava Governorate.
CapitalPoltava
Area 
 (1897)
49,365 km2 (19,060 sq mi)
Population 
 (1897)
2778151
History 
 Established
27 February 1802
 Disestablished
1 August 1925
Political subdivisionsuezds: 15 (1803)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Little Russia Governorate (1796–1802)
Poltava Oblast

It was also known as Piltavshchyna.[1]

Administrative division

It was administered by 15 uezds (povits):

Most of these ended up in the modern Poltava Oblast of Ukraine, although some: Zolotonosha, Konstantinograd, Pereyaslav and Romny are now part of Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Kiev and Sumy Oblasts respectively.

The Poltava Governorate covered a total area of 49,365 km², and had a population of 2,778,151 according to the 1897 Russian Empire census. It was bordering the following Russian Governorates: Chernigov Governorate and Kursk Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the west, Kharkov Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate and Yekaterinoslav Governorate to the south. In 1914, the population was 2,794,727. After the formation of the Ukrainian SSR, the territory was wholly included into the new Soviet Republic. Initially the governorate system was retained although variations included the Kremenchug Governorate which was temporarily formed on its territory (August 1920 – December 1922), and the passing of the Pereyaslav uezd to the Kiev Governorate. However, on Third of June 1925 the guberniya was liquidated and replaced by five okrugs (which already were the uyezd subdivision as of seventh of March 1923): Kremenchutsky, Lubensky, Poltavsky, Prylutsky and Romensky (the rest two okrugs existed within the guberniya, Zolotonoshsky and Krasnohradsky, were also liquidated).

Principal cities

Imperial census of 1897.

Russian Census of 1897, the cities of more than 10,000 people. In bold are the cities of over 50,000.

  • Kremenchug – 63,007 (Jewish – 29,577, Ukrainian – 18,980, Russian – 12,130)
  • Poltava – 53,703 (Ukrainian – 30,086, Russian – 11,035, Jewish – 10,690)
  • Romny – 22,510 (Ukrainian – 13,856, Jewish – 6,341, Russian – 1,933)
  • Priluki – 18,532 (Ukrainian – 11,850, Jewish – 5,719, Russian – 821)
  • Pereyaslav – 14,614 (Ukrainian – 8,348, Jewish – 5,737, Russian – 468)
  • Kobeliaki – 10,487 (Ukrainian – 7,708, Jewish – 2,115, Russian – 564)
  • Zenkov – 10,443 (Ukrainian – 8,957, Jewish – 1,261, Russian – 187)
  • Lubny – 10,097 (Ukrainian – 5,975, Jewish – 3,001, Russian – 960)
  • Mirgorod – 10,037 (Ukrainian – 8,290, Jewish – 1,248, Russian – 427)

Language

By the Imperial census of 1897,[2] in bold are languages spoken by more people than the state language.

Comparison with other province (1897)
Language Number percentage (%) males females
Ukrainian 2,583,133 92.98
Yiddish 110,352 3.97
Russian 72 941 2.63
German 4 579 0.16
Polish 3 891 0.14
Belorussian 1 344 0.05
Persons
that did not identify
their native language
92 <0.01
Other[note 1] 1 819 0.07

Religion

By the Imperial census of 1897,[3] the major religion in the region that was virtually the state religion was the Eastern Orthodox with some population following Judaism. Other religions in the governorate were much less common.

Religion Number percentage (%) males females
Eastern Orthodox 2,654,645 95.55
Judaism 110,944 3.99
Other[note 2] (Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Old Believers) 12 562 0.45

Notes

  1. Languages, number of speakers which in all gubernia were less than 1000
  2. Religions, number of believers which in all gubernia were less than 10000

References

  1. Mikhail Levchenko. Hanshchyna (Ганьщина Україна). Opyt russko-ukrainskago slovari︠a︡. Tip. Gubernskago upravlenii︠a︡, 1874.
  2. Language Statistics of 1897 (in Russian)
  3. Religion Statistics of 1897 (in Russian)

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