Poltava Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded

Little Russia Governorate Little Russia Governorate may refer to: 1764–1781 The First Little Russia Governorate or Malorossiya Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1764–1781. It was created after t ...

and had its capital in

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

. Its borders encompassed the modern

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast (), also referred to as Poltavshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava. Most of its territory was par ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, in addition to

Berestyn Berestyn (, ), formerly known as Krasnohrad () or Krasnograd, is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. From 1784 to 1922, it was known as Kostiantynohrad. It serves as the administrative center of Berestyn Raion. Berestyn ...

Pereiaslav Pereiaslav is a historical town in Boryspil Raion, Kyiv Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located near the confluence of the Alta and Trubizh rivers some southeast of the capital Kyiv. It was one of the key regional centers of power during the ...

Romny Romny (, ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Romen River. Romny serves as the administrative centre of Romny Raion and hosts the administration of , one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History The city w ...

and

Zolotonosha Zolotonosha (, ) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Located at around , the city serves as the administrative center of Zolotonosha Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Zolotonosha urban hromada, one ...

. It was bordering the

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

and

Kursk Governorate Kursk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1796 to 1928 with its capital in Kursk. Administrative divisions As of 1914, Kursk Governorate included 15 uyezds. * Belgorods ...

s to the ''north'',

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–19 ...

to the ''west'',

Kharkov Governorate Kharkov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From 1765 to 1780 and from 1796 to 1835 the governorate was called Sloboda Uk ...

to the ''east'' and the

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

and

Yekaterinoslav Governorate Yekaterinoslav Governorate} was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yekaterinoslav. Covering an area of , and being composed of a inhabitant of 2,113,674 by the census of 1897, it bordere ...

s to the ''south''.

History

In 1802, the

was disbanded and its territory split between the new

and Poltava Governorates. The governorate was part of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

from 1917 to 1920, interrupted in 1918 by the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

. After the formation of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, the territory was wholly included into the new Soviet Republic. Initially the governorate system was retained – although variations included the which was temporarily formed on its territory (August 1920 – December 1922), and the passing of the

Pereyaslavsky Uyezd Pereyaslavsky Uyezd () was one of the subdivisions of the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Pereyaslavl. Demographics At the time of the Russian ...

to the

. However, on June 3, 1925, the governorate was liquidated and succeeded by five okruhas (which already were its subdivisions as of March 7, 1923): Kremenchutsky, Lubensky, Poltavsky, Prylutsky and Romensky (the remainding two okrugs existed within the governate, Zolotonoshsky and Krasnohradsky, were also liquidated).

Demographics

The governorate had a population of 2,778,151 according to the 1897 Russian Empire census. Most people (90.13%) lived on the countryside, while a tenth (9.87%) lived in towns and cities. In 1914, the population had increased to 2,794,727.

Largest towns and cities

According to the 1897 census, nine settlements had more than 10,000 people. 1897 Gov Poltava ethno

Kremenchug Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

– 63,007 (Jewish – 29,577, Ukrainian – 18,980, Russian – 12,130) *

– 53,703 (Ukrainian – 30,086, Russian – 11,035, Jewish – 10,690) *

– 22,510 (Ukrainian – 13,856, Jewish – 6,341, Russian – 1,933) *

Priluki Pryluky ( ) is a city and municipality located on the Udai River in Chernihiv Oblast, north-central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Pryluky Raion (district). Located nearby is the Pryluky air base, a major strategic bomber b ...

– 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 Zinkiv (, ; ) is a city on the Tashan River in the Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine. The city was previously the administrative center of the Zinkiv Raion until 2020, when it became part of the Poltava Raion. It hosts the administration of , ...

– 10,443 (Ukrainian – 8,957, Jewish – 1,261, Russian – 187) *

Lubny Lubny (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Lubny Raion. It also hosts the administration of , one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History Lubny is reputed to be one of the oldes ...

– 10,097 (Ukrainian – 5,975, Jewish – 3,001, Russian – 960) *

Mirgorod Myrhorod (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Myrhorod Raion. Myrhorod also hosts the administration of Myrhorod urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It is located on the Kh ...

– 10,037 (Ukrainian – 8,290, Jewish – 1,248, Russian – 427) In bold are cities with a population of over 50,000.

Native Languages

By the 1897 census, Ukrainian was by far the most native spoken language in the governorate, followed by

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

In bold are native languages spoken by more people than the state language.

Religion

By the 1897 census,Religion statistics of Poltava Governorate in 1897
the majority religion in the governorate and virtually the state religion was

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

with some of the population following

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. Other religions were much less common.

Administrative divisions

The governorate was divided into 15 ( in Ukrainian):

Notes

References

External links

Poltava Guberniya
– Article in

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume encyclopaedia in Russian. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps. It was published in the Russian Em ...

Poltava Governorate
– Historical coat of arms

– Article in th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
{{coord, 49.5744, N, 34.5686, E, source:wikidata, display=title Governorates of the Russian Empire Governorates of Ukraine 1802 establishments in the Russian Empire 1802 establishments in Ukraine 1925 disestablishments in Ukraine History of Chernihiv Oblast History of Kharkiv Oblast History of Kyiv Oblast History of Poltava Oblast History of Sumy Oblast