The Sukhumi or Sukhum Okrug was a special administrative district (''

okrug An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl, okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of administrative division in some Slavic states. Th ...

'') in the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, part of the

Kutaisi Governorate The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia throughout most of its existence, and most of the Artvin Province (except th ...

from 1883 until 1905. The administrative center of the district was the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

port city of Sukhum (

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

). The ''okrug'' bordered the Kutaisi Governorate to the southwest, the

Kuban Oblast The Kuban Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of the Kuban and Circassia regions. It was created in 1860 out of Kuban Cossack territories that had once been part of ...

to the north and the

Black Sea Governorate The Black Sea Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate was the Black Sea port of ...

to the northwest and in terms of its area corresponded to most of contemporary Abkhazia. During 1905-1917 the Sukhumi Okrug was one of the smallest independent (not part of any province or region) administrative units of the Russian Empire, second to the Zakatal Okrug.

History

In 1864, when the

Principality of Abkhazia The Principality of Abkhazia ( ka, აფხაზეთის სამთავრო, tr) emerged as a separate feudal entity in the 15th-16th centuries, amid the civil wars in the Kingdom of Georgia that concluded with the dissolution of t ...

was abolished, its territory, along with Tsebelda, Samurzakan, and the former Pskhu community, became the Sukhum Military District (''Sukhumsky Voenny Otdel''), with a total area of 6,942 square versts and a population of 79,195. Between 1864 and the uprising of 1866, the Sukhum Military District was administratively divided into three okrugs (Abkhaz, Bzyb, and Abzhua) and two pristavstvos (Tsebelda and Samurzakan). In 1883, the Sukhum Military District (''otdel'') became the Sukhum Okrug and was incorporated into the Kutaisi Governorate. In 1905, the Sukhum District (''okrug'') was detached from the Kutaisi Governorate and placed directly under the Viceroy of the Caucasus.

Administrative divisions

The subcounties (''

uchastok An uchastok (russian: yча́сток}, plural russian: yча́стки, translit=uchastki, label=none), or dilyanka in Ukrainian usage ( uk, ділянка, plural uk, ділянки, translit=dilyanki, label=none), was a territorial-administrat ...

s'') of the Sukhumi Okrug in 1912 were as follows:

Demographics

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the Russian Empire census of 1897, the Sukhumi Okrug had a population of 106,179, including 59,836 men and 46,343 women. The majority of the population indicated Abkhazian to be their mother tongue, with significant

Mingrelian Mingrelian may refer to: *the Mingrelians *the Mingrelian language Mingrelian or Megrelian (, ) is a Kartvelian language spoken in Western Georgia (regions of Mingrelia and Abkhazia), primarily by the Mingrelians. The language was also called kol ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

speaking minorities.

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

According to the 1917 publication of the ''Caucasian Calendar'', the Sukhumi Okrug had 209,671 residents, including 127,619 men and 82,052 women, 135,838 of whom were the permanent population, and 73,833 were temporary residents.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917) Oblasts of the Russian Empire Modern history of Georgia (country) Kutaisi Governorate History of Abkhazia States and territories established in 1883 States and territories disestablished in 1921 1880s establishments in Georgia (country) 1920s disestablishments in Georgia (country) 1883 establishments in the Russian Empire 1921 disestablishments in Russia Governorates of the Caucasus {{Georgia-hist-stub