Archangelgorod Governorate

Archangelgorod Governorate (Russian: Архангелогородская губерния, Arkhangelogorodskaya guberniya), or the Government of Archangelgorod, was an administrative division (a guberniya) of the Tsardom of Russia and then the Russian Empire, which existed from 1708 until 1780. Its seat was in Archangel (modern Arkhangelsk). The governorate was located in the north of Russian Empire and bordered Siberia Governorate in the east, Kazan Governorate in the southeast, Moscow and Ingermanland Governorates in the southwest, Sweden (later independent Finland) in the west, and Norway in north-west. In the north, the governorate was limited by the White and Barents Seas.

Archangelgorod Governorate, together with seven other governorates, was established on December 29 [O.S. December 18], 1708, by Tsar Peter the Great's edict. As with the rest of the governorates, neither the borders nor internal subdivisions of Archangelgorod Governorate were defined; instead, the territory was defined as a set of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities.

In terms of the modern political division of Russia, Archangelgorod Governorate comprised the areas of what is currently Murmansk Oblast, Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic, the greater parts of Arkhangelsk and Vologda Oblasts, as well as parts of the Republic of Karelia, Kostroma, Kirov, and Nizhny Novgorod Oblasts.

On June 9 [O.S. May 29], 1719, the governorate was divided into provinces: Archangelgorod, Vologda, Galich, and Ustyug. Simultaneously, Yarensky Uyezd with the administrative center of Yarensk was moved from Siberia Governorate to Archangelgorod Governorate. The uyezds were transformed into districts, however, in 1727 the districts were transformed back into uyezds.

The governorate existed until February 5 [O.S. January 25] 1780, when it was transformed into Vologda Viceroyalty.