Don Host Oblast

{{Short description|1786–1920 unit of Russia}}

{{expand Russian|topic=hist|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox former subdivision

| conventional_long_name = Don Host Oblast

| native_name = {{Nobold|Область Войска Донского}}

| native_name_lang = ru

| common_name =

| subdivision = Oblast

| nation = the Russian Empire

| status_text =

| capital = Novocherkassk

| latd =

| latm =

| latNS =

| longd =

| longm =

| longEW =

| year_start = 1786

| year_end = 1920

| event_start =

| date_start =

| event_end =

| date_end =

| image_flag =

| image_coat = Coat of arms of Don Host Oblast 1878.svg

| image_map = Don Army in Russian Empire (1914).svg

| flag_type =

| flag =

| p1 = Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty

| flag_p1 =

| s1 = Don Soviet Republic

| flag_s1 = Socialist_red_flag.svg

| today = Russia

| s2 = Don Republic

| stat_area1 = 162888.57

| population_estimate1 =

| stat_pop1 = 1,712,898

| stat_year2 = 1897

| life_span = 1786-1920

}}

File:Voznesensky Metropolitan Cathedral Novocherkassk 1905.jpg in 1905.]]

File:Земля Войска Донского на Столистовой карте 1816 года.jpg

Don Host Oblast{{efn|{{bulleted list|{{Langx|ru|Область Войска Донского|Oblast Voyska Donskogo}}|{{Langx|uk|Область Війська Донського|translit=Oblast Viiska Donskoho}}, also known as {{Langx|uk|Донщина|translit=Donshchyna|label=none}}[https://esu.com.ua/article-20928 Донщина] / А. І. Жуковський // Енциклопедія Сучасної України [Електронний ресурс] / Редкол. : І. М. Дзюба, А. І. Жуковський, М. Г. Железняк [та ін.] ; НАН України, НТШ. – К. : Інститут енциклопедичних досліджень НАН України, 2008.}}}} was a province (oblast) of the Russian Empire which consisted of the territory of the Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with present-day Rostov Oblast in Russia. Its administrative center was Cherkassk, and later Novocherkassk.{{cite book |last1=Smele |first1=Jon |title=Historical dictionary of the Russian civil wars, 1916-1926 |date=2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=9781442252813 |page=334}}

It comprised the areas where the Don Cossack Host settled in the Russian Empire. From 1786, the territory was officially named Don Host Land ({{Langx|ru|Земля Войска Донского|Zemlya Voyska Donskogo}}), renamed Don Host Oblast in 1870.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Область Войска Донского |encyclopedia=Soviet Historical Encyclopedia |url=https://runivers.ru/bookreader/book10469/#page/201/mode/1up |pages=395–396}}

During 1914, the oblast, with an area of 164,000 km², had about 3.9 million inhabitants. Of these, 55% (2.1 million) were Cossacks in possession of all the land; the remaining 45% of the population being townsfolk and agricultural guest labourers from other parts of Russia.{{Cn|date=March 2024}}

It was abolished in 1920; from the major part of it the Don Oblast of the RSFSR was created, which was incorporated into the North Caucasus Krai in 1924.