Volhynia Governorate

Volhynia Governorate
Волынская губерния
Coat of arms of Volhynia Governorate
Location in the Russian Empire
Location in the Russian Empire
CountryRussian Empire
KraiSouthwestern
Established1795
Abolished1925
Capital
Area
 • Total71,736 km2 (27,697 sq mi)
Population
 (1897)
 • Total2,989,482
 • Density42/km2 (110/sq mi)
 • Urban
7.82%
 • Rural
92.18%

Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate,[a] was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of 71,736 square kilometres (27,697 sq mi) and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate bordered Grodno and Minsk Governorates to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Podolia Governorate to the south, Lublin and Siedlce Governorates, and after 1912, Kholm Governorate and Austria to the west. Its capital was in Novograd-Volynsky until 1804, and then Zhitomir. It corresponded to most of modern-day Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr Oblasts of Ukraine and some parts of Brest and Gomel Regions of Belarus.

It was created at the end of 1796 after the Third Partition of Poland from the territory of the short-lived Volhynian Vice-royalty and Wołyń Voivodeship. After the Peace of Riga, part of the governorate became the new Wołyń Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic,[1] while the other part stayed as a part of the Ukrainian SSR until 1925 when it was abolished on resolution of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and Counsel of People's Commissars.[2]

Volyn Governorate map in 1913


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  1. ^ Eberhardt, Piotr; Jan Owsinski (2003). Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-Century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, Analysis. M.E. Sharpe. p. 260. ISBN 0-7656-0665-8.
  2. ^ Vermenych, Ya Volhynian Governorate (Волинська губернія). Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine.