Kherson Governorate

The governorate bordered Bessarabia Governorate to the west, with Kiev and Poltava Governorates to the north, to the east was Yekaterinoslav Governorate, and southward was Taurida Governorate.

From 1809, the governorate consisted of five uyezds: Khersonsky Uyezd, Aleksandriysky Uyezd, Ovidiopol, Tiraspolsky Uyezd, and Yelisavetgradsky Uyezd. The city of Odessa was separate, as it carried a special status. In 1825, Odessky Uyezd and in 1834, Ananyevsky Uyezd were added into the territorial division of the Kherson Governorate. A seventh uyezd – Bobrynets, existed from 1828 to 1865. The cities of Odessa and Nikolayev (in 1803–1861) and their surrounding vicinity were governed separately: Odessa by a gradonachalnik ({{langx|ru|градоначальник}}), answerable directly to the tsar and (from 1822) the governor-general of Novorossiya and Bessarabia, and Nikolayev by a military governor.

In 1920, while being under Bolshevik rule, the governorate's territory, {{convert|70600|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}, was divided to form the newer Odessa Governorate. Kherson Governorate was renamed as Mykolaiv Governorate in 1921, and in 1922 – it was merged with Odessa Governorate. In 1925, Odessa Governorate was abolished, and its territory was divided into six okruhas: Kherson, Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Pershotravneve, and Zinoviivske. In 1932, much of this territory was incorporated into the new Odesa Oblast, now an administrative division o modern Ukrainian nation, which was divided to form Mykolaiv Oblast.

;From the Russian Census of 1897

File:Ukraine Cherson 2St.-Ekater.jpg (Russian: Свято-Екаерининский Собор) in Kherson that was the governorate's seat at the tim]]

• Odessa – 403,815 (Russian – 198,233, Jewish – 124,511, Ukrainian – 37,925)
• Nikolayev – 92,012 (Russian – 61,023, Jewish – 17,949, Ukrainian – 7,780)
• Yelizavetgrad – 61,488 (Jewish – 23,256, Russian – 21,301, Ukrainian – 14,523)
• Kherson – 59,076 (Russian – 27,902, Jewish – 17,162, Ukrainian – 11,591)
• Tiraspol – 31,616 (Russian – 14,013, Jewish – 8,568, Ukrainian – 3,708)
• Ananiv – 16,684 (Ukrainian – 7,205, Romanian – 4,174, Jewish – 3,514)
• Voznesensk – 15,748 (Jewish – 5,879, Ukrainian – 5,644, Russian – 2,583)
• Bobrinets – 14,281 (Ukrainian – 9,529, Jewish – 3,464, Russian – 837)
• Aleksandriya – 14,007 (Ukrainian – 7,658, Jewish – 3,687, Russian – 2,364)
• Beryslav – 12,149 (Ukrainian – 8,852, Jewish – 2,639, Russian – 524)
• Dubossary – 12,089 (Jewish – 5,326, Romanian – 3,383, Ukrainian – 2,841)
• Novogeorgiyevsk – 11,594 (Russian – 6,631, Ukrainian – 3,372, Jewish – 1,424)
• Ochakov – 10,786 (Ukrainian – 5,204, Russian – 3,508, Jewish – 1,430)
• Novomirgorod – 9,364 (Russian – 7,025, Jewish – 1,617, Ukrainian – 572)
• Grigoriopol – 7,605 (Romanian – 3,740, Russian – 1,832, Jewish – 832)
• Olviopol – 6,884 (Ukrainian – 5,022, Jewish – 1,480, Russian – 271)
• Ovidiopol – 5,187 (Ukrainian – 2,785, Russian – 1,997, Jewish – 387)
• Maiaky – 4,575 (Russian – 2,865, Ukrainian – 944, Jewish – 644)

Until 1858, a third of the population (military settlers, admiralty settlements, foreign colonists, etc.) was subject to martial law. The gubernia had a population of about 245,000 in 1812; 893,000 in 1851; 1,330,000 in 1863; 2,027,000 in 1885; 2,733,600 in 1897; and 3,744,600 in 1914. In the 1850s it consisted of Ukrainians (68–75 %), Romanians (8–11 %), Russians (3–7 %), Jews (6 %), Germans (4 %), Bulgarians (2 %), Poles, Greeks, and Gypsies. In 1914, Ukrainians composed only 53% of the population, while Russians made up 22% and Jews – 12%. Urban dwellers made up 10 to 20 percent of the population until the 1850s, after which the proportion of urban dwellers increased, to about 30% in 1897. Migration within the Russian Empire mainly accounted for the area's population growth, with 46% of the population born outside of the governorate in 1897.

{{See also|Jewish agricultural colonies in the Russian Empire}}

According to the Russian Empire Census on {{OldStyleDate|28 January|1897|15 January}}, the Kherson Governorate had a population of 2,733,612, including 1,400,981 men and 1,332,631 women. The majority of the population indicated Little Russian{{efn|name=Russians}} to be their mother tongue, with significant Russian, Jewish, Romanian, and German speaking minorities.

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070320080358/http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/110/110085.htm Kherson Guberniya] – Article in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary {{in lang|ru}}
• [http://patent.net.ua/symbol/regions/ks/ua.html Kherson Guberniya] – Historical coat of arms {{in lang|uk|en}}
• [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\H\Khersongubernia.htm Kherson gubernia] – Article in the [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/ Encyclopedia of Ukraine]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150326032333/http://lib.kherson.ua/pam_knigi-0-1.htm From Kherson Governorate to Kherson Oblast]. Kherson regional universal science library of Oles Honchar.

{{Governorates of Ukraine 1917–1921}}

{{Ukrainian historical regions}}

{{Subdivisions of the Russian Empire}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|46.6333|N|32.6000|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}

Category:Governorates of the Russian Empire

Category:Political history of Ukraine

Category:Governorates of Ukraine

Category:States and territories established in 1802

Category:1802 establishments in the Russian Empire

Category:1802 establishments in Ukraine

Category:1922 disestablishments in Ukraine