Podolia Governorate

Podolia Governorate^{[lower-alpha 1]} was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessarabia Governorate to the south, and Austria to the west. Its administrative centre was Kamenets-Podolsky (Kamianets-Podilskyi), which later moved to Vinnitsa (Vinnytsia). The governorate covered areas of Ukraine's partially Khmelnytskyi and most of Vinnytsia Oblasts, along with the fractionally recognised state of Transnistria.

Podolia Governorate Подольская губерния
Governorate
Coat of arms
Location in the Russian Empire
Country	Russian Empire
Krai	Southwestern
Established	1793
Abolished	1925
Capital	Kamenets-Podolsky (until 1914) Vinnitsa (1914–1925)
Area
• Total	42,017 km2 (16,223 sq mi)
Population  (1897)
• Total	3,018,299
• Density	72/km2 (190/sq mi)
• Urban	7.35%
• Rural	92.65%

It was created from the Second Partition of Poland, which was formed from the former Polish Bracław and Podole voivodeships, which are part of the Southwestern Krai along with Volhynia and Kiev. Its capital was located in Kamenets-Podolsky, which later moved to Vinnitsa. The governorate still existed until the administrative reforms of the Ukrainian SSR, which dissolved it into five okruhas.

History

A market scene in Podolia, c. 1864

The Government of Podolia was established right after the Second Partition of Poland in place of the former Podole and Bracław Voivodeships in 1793.

Location

The Podolia Governorate occupied the southwestern frontier of the former Russian empire, bordering Austria-Hungary, and had an area of about 42,000 km². The administrative centre was Kamenets-Podolskiy until 1914 when it moved to Vinnytsia.

Podolia Governorate was one of the three governorates of the Southwestern Krai administration. In 1917 it was recognized by the Russian Provisional Government to be governed by the General Secretariat of Ukraine as the representative of the Russian Provisional Government in the region.

Old map of Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire.

Administrative division

Uyezd subdivision

Until 1918 the governorate consisted of 12 uyezds (counties):

County		County Town	Arms of County Town	Area	Population (1897 census)
Transliteration name	Russian Cyrillic
Baltsky	Балтский	Balta		7,766.25 km2 (2,998.57 sq mi)	391,018
Bratslavsky	Брацлавский	Bratslav		3,079.93 km2 (1,189.17 sq mi)	241,868
Vinnitsky	Винницкий	Vinnitsa		2,980.92 km2 (1,150.94 sq mi)	248,314
Gaysinsky	Гайсинский	Gaysin		3,383.11 km2 (1,306.23 sq mi)	248,142
Kamenets-Podolsky	Каменец-Подольский	Kamenets-Podolsky		2,884.19 km2 (1,113.59 sq mi)	266,350
Letichevsky	Летичевский	Letichev		2,699.14 km2 (1,042.14 sq mi)	184,477
Litinsky	Литинский	Litin		3,322 km2 (1,283 sq mi)	210,502
Mogilyovsky	Могилёвский	Mogilyov		2,746.14 km2 (1,060.29 sq mi)	227,672
Novoushitsky	Новоушицкий	Novaya Ushitsa		2,840.26 km2 (1,096.63 sq mi)	223,312
Olgopolsky	Ольгопольский	Olgopol		4,008.14 km2 (1,547.55 sq mi)	284,253
Proskurovsky	Проскуровский	Proskurov		2,691.06 km2 (1,039.02 sq mi)	226,091
Yampolsky	Ямпольский	Yampol		3,618.01 km2 (1,396.92 sq mi)	266,300

Podolian korchma

Okruha subdivision

On 12 April 1923 all uyezds (counties) were transformed into okruhas (counties), while volosts (districts) – into raions (districts). Okruhas served as a subdivision of government until it was abolished on 1 August 1925. Together with the government of Podilia, the Haisyn okruha was dissolved as well. Some territory of Tulchyn okruha were included into the newly formed Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

• Vinnytsia
• Haisyn
• Kamianets
• Mohyliv
• Proskuriv
• Tulchyn

Principal cities

Russian Census of 1897:

Kamenets/Podolsky

• Kamenets/Podolsky – 35 934 (Jewish – 16 112, Ukrainian – 9 755, Russian – 7 420)
• Vinnitsa – 30 563 (Jewish – 11 456, Ukrainian – 10 862, Russian – 5 206)
• Balta – 23 363 (Jewish – 13 164, Russian – 5 385, Ukrainian – 4 124)
• Proskurov – 22 855 (Jewish – 11 369, Ukrainian – 4 425, Russian – 3 483)
• Mogilev/Dnestr – 22 315 (Jewish – 12 188, Ukrainian – 6 512, Russian – 2 668)
• Zhmerinka – 12 908
• Khmelnik – 11 657 (Jewish – 5 979, Ukrainian – 5 375, Polish – 150)

Smaller cities

• Bar – 9 982 (Jewish – 5 764, Ukrainian – 3 332, Russian – 485)
• Lityn – 9 420 (Jewish – 3 828, Ukrainian – 3 047, Russian – 2 126)
• Gaysin – 9 374 (Jewish – 4 322, Ukrainian – 3 946, Russian – 884)
• Olgopol – 8 134 (Ukrainian – 4 837, Jewish – 2 465, Russian – 625)
• Bratslav – 7 863 (Jewish – 3 275, Ukrainian – 2 608, Russian – 1 782)
• Letichev – 7 248 (Jewish – 4 105, Ukrainian – 1 719, Polish – 741)
• Yampol – 6 605 (Ukrainian – 3 282, Jewish – 2 819, Russian – 275)
• Novaya Ushytsa – 6 371 (Jewish – 2 214, Russian – 2 120, Ukrainian – 1 836)
• Staraya Ushytsa – 4 176 (Ukrainian – 2 488, Jewish – 1 584, Polish – 57)
• Salnitsa – 3 699 (Ukrainian – 2 758, Jewish – 899, Polish – 19)
• Verbovets – 2 311 (Ukrainian – 1 282, Jewish – 661, Polish – 326)

Language

Imperial census of 1897.

According to the Russian Empire Census on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, the Podolia Governorate had a population of 3,018,299, including 1,505,940 men and 1,512,359 women. The majority of the population indicated Little Russian^{[lower-alpha 2]} to be their mother tongue, with a significant Jewish speaking minority.^[1]

Linguistic composition of the Podolia Governorate in 1897^[1]

Language	Native speakers	Percentage
Little Russian[lower-alpha 2]	2,442,819	80.93
Jewish	369,306	12.24
Great Russian[lower-alpha 2]	98,984	3.28
Polish	69,156	2.29
Romanian	26,764	0.89
German	4,069	0.13
Tatar	2,296	0.08
Bashkir	1,113	0.04
Czech	886	0.03
White Russian[lower-alpha 2]	834	0.03
Roma	510	0.02
Votyak	254	0.01
French	245	0.01
Chuvash	137	0.00
Mordovian	136	0.00
Latvian	112	0.00
Cheremis	101	0.00
Other languages	577	0.02
TOTAL	3,018,299	100.00

Religious composition of the Podolia Governorate in 1897^[4]

Faith	Male	Female	Both
			Number	Percentage
Eastern Orthodox	1,180,148	1,178,349	2,358,497	78.14
Judaism	179,612	191,000	370,612	12.28
Roman Catholic	131,145	131,593	262,738	8.70
Old Believer	9,357	9,492	18,849	0.62
Lutheran	2,020	1,795	3,815	0.13
Islam	3,427	33	3,460	0.11
Armenian Apostolic	65	29	94	0.00
Reformed	30	26	56	0.00
Armenian Catholic	23	14	37	0.00
Karaite	11	13	24	0.00
Anglican	3	4	7	0.00
Mennonite	2	1	3	0.00
Baptist	1	1	2	0.00
Other Christian denomination	12	9	21	0.00
Other non-Christian denomination	84	0	84	0.00
Total	1,505,940	1,512,359	3,018,299	100.00

The Baal Shem Tov's shul in Medzhybizh, Ukraine (c. 1915). The shul no longer exists.

Religious structures

• Churches
  • Eastern Orthodox 1645
  • Roman Catholic (kosciol) 202
  • Lutheran 4
• Monasteries
  • Eastern Orthodox 7 (male), 4 (female)
• Synagogues 89
  • other Shul(s) 438
• Mosque(s) 1

See also

• Podolia

Notes

1. • Russian: Подо́льская губе́рния, pre-1918: Подо́льская губе́рнія, romanized: Podólʼskaya gubérniya
   • Ukrainian: Поді́льська губе́рнія, romanized: Podílʼsʼka hubérniia
2. Prior to 1918, the Imperial Russian government classified Russians as the Great Russians, Ukrainians as the Little Russians, and Belarusians as the White Russians. After the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1918, the Little Russians identified themselves as "Ukrainian".^[2] Also, the Belarusian Democratic Republic which the White Russians identified themselves as "Belarusian".^[3]

References

1. "Demoscope Weekly – Annex. Statistical indicators reference". demoscape.ru. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
2. Hamm, Michael F. (2014). Kiev: A Portrait, 1800–1917. Princeton University Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-4008-5151-5.
3. Fortson IV, Benjamin W. (2011). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p. 429. ISBN 978-1-4443-5968-8.
4. Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.. demoscope.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 3 May 2023.

48.6806°N 26.5806°E / 48.6806; 26.5806