Chernihiv Governorate

Chernihiv Governorate (Чернігівська губернія) was an administrative territorial subdivision of the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian SSR, existing from 1918 to 1925. It was inherited from the Russian system of territorial subdivisions that existed prior to World War I. Specifically, the Chernigov Governorate (Черниговская губерния; translit.: Chernigovskaya guberniya; Чернігівська губернія), also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire, which was officially created in 1802 from the Malorossiya Governorate with an administrative centre of Chernihiv. The Little Russian Governorate was transformed into the General Government of Little Russia and consisted of Chernigov Governorate, Poltava Governorate, and later Kharkov Governorate. Chernigov Governorate borders are roughly consistent with the modern Chernihiv Oblast, but also included a large section of Sumy Oblast and smaller sections of the Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine, in addition to most of the Bryansk Oblast, Russia. When part of the Russian Empire, the governorate consisted of 15 uyezds (their administrative centres in brackets): Borznyansky Uyezd (Borzna) Glukhovsky Uyezd (Glukhov/Hlukhiv) Gorodnyansky Uyezd (Gorodnya/Horodnia) Kozeletsky Uyezd (Kozelets) Konotopsky Uyezd (Konotop) Krolevetsky Uyezd (Krolevets) Mglinsky Uyezd (Mglin) Nezhinsky Uyezd (Nezhin/Nizhyn) Novgorod-Seversky Uyezd (Novgorod-Seversky/Novhorod-Siverskyi) Novozybkovsky Uyezd (Novozybkov) Ostyorsky Uyezd (Ostyor/Oster) Sosnitsky Uyezd (Sosnitsa/Sosnytsia) Starodubsky Uyezd (Starodub) Surazhsky Uyezd (Surazh) Chernigovsky Uyezd (Chernigov/Chernihiv) The Chernigov Governorate covered a total area of 52,396 km2, and had a population of 2,298,000, according to the 1897 Russian Empire census. In 1914, the population was 2,340,000. In 1918 it became part of Ukraine and transformed into Chernihiv Governorate.