Established 1846 Area 39,197 verst² | Abolished 1917 | |
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Tiflis governorate top 10 facts
Tiflis Governorate (Old Russian: Тифлисская губернія; Georgian: ტფილისის გუბერნია) was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire with its centre in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, capital of Georgia). In 1897 it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants. The governorate used to border Elisabethpol Governorate, Erivan Governorate, Kutaisi Governorate, Zakatali okrug, Dagestan Oblast, Terek Oblast, and Kars Oblast. It covered present southeastern Georgia, northern Armenia and northwestern Azerbaijan.
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Tiflis Governorate was established in 1846 along with the Kutaisi Governorate, after the dissolution of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. It was initially formed from uyezds of Tiflis, Gori, Telavi, Signakh, Yelizavetpol, Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol and okrugs of Zakataly, Ossetian and Tushino-pshaw-Khevsurian. In 1849, uyezds of Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol were attached to Erivan Governorate. In 1859 Ossetian okrug became part of Gori district and Tushino-pshaw-Khevsurian okrug was renamed to Tionets. In 1867, the northern part of Tiflis uyezd was separated as Dusheti one, while Akhaltsikhe uyezd which was created after ceding from Ottoman Empire to Russian Empire in 1829, was detached from Kutaisi Governorate and part of Tiflis one. In 1868 Yelizavetpol uyezd (in the same decree, Kazakh uyezd was formed from northwestern part of Yelizavetpol one and was attached to Elisabethpol Governorate) was part of Elisabethpol Governorate. In 1874, the southern part of Akhaltsikhe uyezd was to become Akhalkalaki one and Tionets okrug was elevated as uyezd. Finally southern part of Tiflis Uyezd was to become Borchali Uyezd. The governorate lasted in these boundaries for 50 years, until the Democratic Republic of Georgia was founded.
Administrative divisions
Tiflis Governorate consisted of the following uyezds:
Demographics
As of 1897, 1,051,032 lived in the governorate, with around 20% of them being urban. Ethnic Georgians constituted 44.3% of the population, followed by Armenians (18.7%), Azeris (10.2%), Russians (including Ukrainians and Old Believers, 9.7%), Ossetians (6.4%), Avars (3.2%), Greeks (2.6%), Turks (2.4%), etc. More than half of the population adhered to Eastern Orthodox Christianity with significant Muslim, Catholic and Jewish minorities.
Governors
The administration tasks in the governorate were executed by a governor. Sometimes, a military governor was appointed as well. The governors of Tiflis Governorate were