Saratov Governorate
Саратовская губерния
Governorate of Russian Empire (1797–1917), Russian Republic, and RSFSR (1917–1928)
1797–1928
Coat of arms of Saratov
Coat of arms

Saratov Governorate within the Russian Empire
CapitalSaratov
Area 
 
84,495.2 km2 (32,623.8 sq mi)
Population 
 1897[1]
2,405,829
History 
 Established
1797
 Disestablished
1928
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Saratov Viceroyalty
Lower Volga Oblast
Middle Volga Oblast

Saratov Governorate (Russian: Саратовская губе́рния, Saratovskaya guberniya, Government of Saratov), was an administrative division (a guberniya) of the Russian Empire and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which existed from 1797 to 1928. Its administrative center was in the city of Saratov.

History

On December 25, 1769, the Saratov province was established as part of the Astrakhan Governorate.

On January 11, 1780, Empress Catherine the Great issued a decree of the establishment of the Saratov governorship of the northern districts of the Astrakhan Governorate to begin on November 7 of that year, followed by a decree on who will lead the new governorship.

For the grand opening of the Saratov governorship, on February 3, 1781, the Astrakhan governor, along with lieutenant-general Jacobi and Bishop Anthony arrived from Astrakhan.

On August 23, 1781 the Empress issued a decree approving the emblems of the city of Saratov and several Saratov governorship county-level cities (Atkarsk, Balashov, Kamyshin, Khvalynsk, Kuznetsk, Petrovsk, Serdobsk, Tsaritsyn, and Volsk).

In 1796, 41 of the governorships which were created by Catherine II had been abolished by her son Emperor Paul I of Russia including a decree on December 12, 1796 to abolish the Saratov governorship, and have its uyezds distributed between Penza and Astrakhan province. Because of the decree of March 5, 1797 Penza province was renamed Saratov province and Saratov was appointed a provincial city. On October 11, 1797 from the Saratov governorate the governorates of Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod and Simbirsk were established, from the rest of the Saratov province decree dated September 9, 1801 the Penza Governorate was established.

In 1802 Novokhopyorsky Uyezd was ceded to the Voronezh Governorate, and Chernoyarsky Uyezd was ceded to the Astrakhan governorate.

In 1835 three new uyezds were created - Nikolayevsk, Novouzensk and Tsarevsky. In 1851 Tsarevsky Uyezd was transferred to the Astrakhan governorate, and Nicholas and Novouzensk Uyezd - to the newly created Samara Governorate.

Because of the decree of July 5, 1878, the coat of arms of Saratov province was approved with the depiction of an azure shield, in which three silver starlet are placed in a forked cross. The shield is crowned by the imperial crown and surrounded by golden oak leaves emblazoned with St. Andrew's cross.

In 1918, part of the governorate was incorporated into the newly formed autonomous region of the Volga Germans.

In 1919, part of Kamyshinsky (returned in 1920) and Tsaritsynsky uyezds were transferred to the newly formed Tsaritsyn governorate. The structure of the governorate came from the province of Samara, Nicholas Uyezd and Novouzensk Uyezd.

In 1920, due to downsizing Novouzensk Uyezd formed Dergachyovsky and Pokrovsk Uyezds.

In 1921, due to downsizing Atkarsky Uyezd formed Yelansky Uyezd.

In 1922 Pokrovsk Uyezd was transferred to the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

In 1923, the Khvalynsky Uyezd was abolished, its territory is divided between Volsky Uyezd and Kuznetsky Uyezd. Dergachyovsky District was formed through consolidation of Novouzensk Uyezd and Elansky Uyezd with Atkarskaya Uyezd.

In a Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on May 21, 1928 Saratov Governorate was abolished and its territory was included in the Lower Volga Oblast, which was later turned into Saratov Krai and Saratov Oblast.

Subdivisions

The Saratov Governorate was divided into 10 uyezds:

Demography

Language

  • Population by mother tongue according to the Imperial census of 1897.
Language Number percentage (%) males females
Russian 1,846,436 76.7 895,661 950,775
German 166,528 6.9 83,512 83,016
Ukrainian 149,291 6.2 74,712 74,579
Mordvin 123,893 5.1 59,419 64,474
Tatar 94,693 3.9 47,507 47,186
Chuvash 14,403 0.6 7,063 7,340
Polish 2,596 0.1 1,781 815
Jewish 2,527 0.1 1,528 999
Belarusian 1,371 0.0 756 615
Bashkir 1,262 0.0 624 638
Kalmyk 733 0.0 421 312
Gypsy 589 0.0 310 279
Latvian 324 0.0 189 135
Armenian 168 0.0 122 46
Other 1,015 0.0 699 316
Total 2,405,829 100.0 1,174,304 1,231,525

Religion

  • According to the Imperial census of 1897.[2]
Religion Number percentage (%) males females
Pravoslavs[3] 2,022,517 84.1 985,924 1,036,593
Old Believers and others split from Pravoslavs 113,710 4.7 52,315 61,395
Lutherans 96,958 4.0 48,528 48,430
Islam 96,001 4.0 48,177 47,824
Reformed 37,688 1.6 18.730 18.958
Roman Catholic 34,702 1.4 18,162 16,540
Judaism 2,953 0.1 1,716 1,237
Buddhists, Lamaists 731 0.0 420 311
Baptists 307 0.0 151 156
Armenian Gregorians 168 0.0 120 48
Karaites 12 0.0 6 6
Anglicans 11 0.0 11 0
Armenian Catholic Church 9 0.0 5 4
Mennonites 6 0.0 3 3
Other: Christian denominations 33 0.0 20 13
Other: non-Christians 23 0.0 16 7
Total 2,405,829 100.0 1,174,304 1,231,525

Notable people

  • Sergei Bobokhov, Russian revolutionary, who committed suicide as a protest against the flogging of woman comrade in Siberia.

References

  1. "Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г." [The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897]. Demoscope Weekly (in Russian).
  2. Religion Statistics of 1897 (in Russian)
  3. Eastern Orthodox, including Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Georgian Orthodox

Further reading

51°32′00″N 46°00′00″E / 51.5333°N 46.0000°E / 51.5333; 46.0000

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