View source for Pale of Settlement

{{Short description|Region of the Russian Empire where Jewish residents were allowed to reside}}
{{about|the Pale in Imperial Russia|other places referred to as "pale"|Pale (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox historic region
| conventional_long_name = Pale of Settlement
| native_name            = Черта оседлости ([[Russian language|Russian]]) <br> דער ייִדישער צעטייל־געגנט ([[Yiddish]]) <br> תחום המושב ([[Hebrew]])
| image_map              = Pale-of-settlement-1884.jpg
| today                  = <!--No more than four countries, per infobox documentation-->
| government_type        = 
| year_start             = 1791
| year_end               = 1917
| era                    = 
| image_map_caption      = Pale of Settlement map, showing the percentage of the Jewish population in 1884
| common_name            = 
}}

The '''Pale of Settlement'''{{efn|{{langx|ru|черта оседлости|cherta osedlosti}}; [[Reforms of Russian orthography|pre-reform spelling]]: черта осѣдлости, {{lit|boundary of settlement}}; {{langx|yi|תּחום־המושבֿ|tkhum hamóyshev|lit=area of settlement}}; {{langx|he|תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב|t'ẖum hammosháv|lit=area of settlement}}}} was a western region of the [[Russian Empire]] with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent residency by [[History of the Jews in Russia|Jews]] was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary,<ref>[https://eleven.co.il/article/14679 Черта оседлости. (''tr. "Settlement line"'')] KEE, volume 9, col. 1188–1198 ''eleven.co.il''</ref> was mostly forbidden. Most Jews were still excluded from residency in a number of cities within the Pale as well. A few Jews were allowed to live outside the area, including those with university education, the ennobled, members of the most affluent of the merchant guilds and particular [[artisan]]s, some military personnel, and their dependents including families and sometimes servants. ''Pale'' is an archaic term meaning an enclosed area. Outside the Pale, Jews were also allowed to settle in certain colonies such as in Siberia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AGRICULTURAL COLONIES IN RUSSIA - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/908-agricultural-colonies-in-russia |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>

The Pale of Settlement included all of modern-day [[Belarus]] and [[Moldova]], much of [[Lithuania]], [[Ukraine]] and east-central [[Poland]], and relatively small parts of [[Latvia]] and what is now the western [[Russia|Russian Federation]]. It extended from the eastern ''pale'', or demarcation line inside the Russian Empire, westwards to the border with the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] (later the [[German Empire]]) and [[Austria-Hungary]]. It comprised about 20% of the territory of European Russia and largely corresponded to historical lands of the former [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[Cossack Hetmanate]], [[Ottoman Empire]] (with [[Yedisan]]), [[Crimean Khanate]], and eastern [[Principality of Moldavia|Moldavia]] ([[Bessarabia]]).

Life in the Pale for many was economically bleak. Most people relied on small service or artisan work that could not support the number of inhabitants, which resulted in emigration, especially in the late 19th century. Even so, [[Jewish culture]], especially in [[Yiddish]], developed in the [[shtetl]]s (small towns), and intellectual culture developed in the [[yeshiva]]s (religious schools), and was also carried abroad.

The Russian Empire during the existence of the Pale was predominantly [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]], in contrast to the area included in the Pale with its large minorities of Jewish, [[Roman Catholic]] and until mid-19th century [[Eastern Catholic]] population (although much of modern Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova are predominantly Eastern Orthodox). While the religious nature of the edicts governing the Pale is clear (conversion to [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]], the state religion, released individuals from the strictures), historians argue that the motivations for its creation and maintenance were primarily economic and [[Russian nationalism|nationalist]] in nature.

The end of the enforcement and formal demarcation of the Pale coincided with the beginning of [[World War I]] in 1914, when large numbers of Jews fled into the Russian interior to escape the invading [[Imperial German Army]], and then ultimately in 1917 with the end of the Russian Empire after the [[February Revolution]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bu_3BQAAQBAJ |script-title=ru:Сборник важнейших законоположений и распоряжений, действующих с 1 июля 1914 по 1 января 1916 года, вызванных обстоятельствами военного времени |publisher=Direct Media |date=2013 |orig-date=1916 |page=73 |isbn=978-5-4460-6984-2}}</ref><ref>''Аронсон Г. Я.'' В борьбе за гражданские и национальные права: Общественные течения в русском еврействе // КРЕ-1. — С. 232.</ref>

==Etymology==
''Pale of Settlement'' is a traditional translation of [[Russian language|Russian]] {{transliteration|ru|čerta osedlosti}}{{efn|OED only provides [[Romanization of Russian|transliteration]] for the [[etymon]]. The etymon itself should be ''{{lang|ru|черта осѣдлости}}'' due to it being attested prior to [[Reforms of Russian orthography#Specific changes|specific orthographic reforms]] removing the letter '''{{lang|ru-petr1708|ѣ}}''' ([[Yat]]), producing ''{{lang|ru|черта оседлости}}''.}} ({{lit|boundary of settlement}}) and was first attested in English in the 1890s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|access-date=20 April 2025|entry=Pale of Settlement, in pale, n.{{sup|1}}|entry-url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/pale_n1?tab=factsheet#32522222|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|entry-url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The term ''pale'' with the archaic meaning "a district or territory within determined bounds, or subject to a particular jurisdiction" was first used in the 1540s to describe various defended enclosures of territory inside other countries, such as the [[The Pale|English jurisdiction of Ireland]] and [[Pale of Calais|of France]]. The meaning was extended from the older sense "an area enclosed by a fence", though the meaning doesn't necessarily refer to a literal fence, even in its early use.<ref name="Oxford University Press" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Beyond the pale|first=Michael|last=Quinion|author-link=Michael Quinion|publisher=World Wide Words|orig-date=8 February 2003|date=20 November 2010<!-- last edited -->|url=https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pal2.htm}}</ref> The word itself, attested since the 12th century, was derived from [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|[[:wikt:palus#Latin|palus]]}}'' (denoting "a stake" and "a wooden post used by Roman soldiers to represent an opponent during fighting practice").<ref name="Oxford University Press" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |entry=pale (n.) |access-date=20 April 2025 |last=Harper |first=Douglas |quote=early 13c. (c. 1200 in Anglo-Latin), "stake, pole, stake for vines," from Old French pal and directly from Latin palus "stake, prop, wooden post" |entry-url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/pale}}</ref> By extension, ''the Pale'' is also shorthand for the ''Pale of Settlement''.<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite encyclopedia|entry=pale, n.{{sup|1}}|entry-url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/pale_n1?tab=factsheet#32522046|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|entry-url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==History==
{{for|more information about life in the Pale|History of the Jews in Poland|History of the Jews in Russia}}
{{Antisemitism}}
The territory that would become the Pale first began to enter Imperial Russian hands in 1772, with the [[First Partition of Poland]]. At the time, most Jews (and in fact most imperial subjects) were restricted in their movements. The Pale came into being under the rule of [[Catherine the Great]] in 1791,<ref name="Spiro-2009">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48956361.html|title=History Crash Course #56: Pale of Settlement|last=Spiro|first=Rabbi Ken|website=aish.com|date=9 May 2009|language=en|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref> initially as a measure to speed colonization of territory on the [[Black Sea]] [[History of the Russo-Turkish wars|recently acquired]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Jews were allowed to expand the territory available to them, but in exchange Jewish merchants could no longer do business in non-Pale Russia.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-pale-of-settlement|title=The Pale of Settlement|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2025}}

The institution of the Pale became more significant following the [[Second Partition of Poland]] in 1793, since, until then, the empire's (former Muscovy's) Jewish population had been rather limited.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Stalin|last=Kotkin|first=Stephen|publisher=Penguin Books |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-59420-379-4 |location=USA |page=12}}</ref> The dramatic westward expansion of the Russian Empire through the annexation of Polish–Lithuanian territory substantially increased the Jewish population.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Stalin |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen |publisher=Penguin |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-59420-379-4 |location=New York |page=12}}</ref> At its height, the Pale had a Jewish population of over five million, and represented the largest component (40 percent) of the world's Jewish population at that time.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jhi.pl/en/articles/anniversary-of-the-pale-settlement-decree,243 | title=Anniversary of the pale settlement decree }}</ref> The freedom of movement of non-Jewish imperial subjects was greatly increased, but the freedom of movement of Jews was greatly restricted and officially kept within the boundaries of the pale.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" />{{better source needed|date=August 2025}}

The name "Pale of Settlement" first arose under the rule of [[Nicholas I of Russia|Tsar Nicholas I]]. Under his rule (1825 to 1855), the Pale gradually shrank and became more restrictive. In 1827, Jews living in [[Kiev]]<!--Do not change per WP:KYIV--> were severely restricted by imperial decree. In 1835 the provinces of [[Astrakhan Oblast|Astrakhan]] and the [[North Caucasus]] were removed from the Pale. Nicholas tried to remove all Jews from within {{convert|80|km}} of the [[Austrian Empire]]'s border in 1843. In practice, this was very difficult to enforce, and the restrictions were lessened in 1858.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" />

[[Alexander II of Russia|Tsar Alexander II]], who ruled 1855 to 1881,<ref name="Wallace-1911">{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Alexander II. (tsar) |volume= 01 | pages = 559–561 |last1= Wallace |first1= Donald Mackenzie |author-link=Donald Mackenzie Wallace }}</ref> expanded the rights of rich and educated Jews to leave and live beyond the Pale, which led many Jews to believe that the Pale might soon be abolished.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" /> These hopes vanished when Alexander II was [[Assassination of Alexander II of Russia|assassinated in 1881]].<ref name="Wallace-1911" /> Rumors spread that he had been assassinated by Jews,<ref>''[[Jewish Chronicle]]'', May 6, 1881, cited in Benjamin Blech, ''Eyewitness to Jewish History''</ref><ref>[[Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti]] newspaper No.65, March 8 (20), 1881</ref> and in the aftermath anti-Jewish sentiment skyrocketed. Anti-Jewish [[pogrom]]s rocked the country from [[Pogroms in the Russian Empire#1881–84|1881 through 1884]]. The reactionary [[May Laws|Temporary regulations regarding the Jews]] of 1881 prohibited any new Jewish settlement outside of the Pale. The laws also granted peasants the right to demand the expulsion of Jews in their towns. The laws were anything but temporary, and would be in full effect until at least 1903. In 1910, Jewish members of the [[State Duma]] proposed the abolition of the Pale, but the power dynamic of Duma meant that the bill never had a realistic chance to pass. Far-right political elements in the Duma responded by proposing that all Jews be expelled from the Russian Empire.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" />{{better source needed|date=August 2025}}

At times, by imperial decree Jews were forbidden to live in agricultural communities, or certain cities, (as in [[Kiev]], [[Sevastopol]] and [[Yalta]]), and were forced to move to small provincial towns, thus fostering the rise of the ''[[shtetl]]s.''{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} Jewish merchants of the First Guild ({{lang|ru|купцы первой гильдии}}, the wealthiest ''[[sosloviye]]'' of merchants in the Russian Empire), people with higher or special education, university students, [[artisan]]s, army tailors, ennobled Jews, soldiers (drafted in accordance with the Recruit Charter of 1810), and their families had the right to live outside the Pale of Settlement.<ref name="Jankowski, Tomasz [attr.]-2014">{{cite web | author = Jankowski, Tomasz [attr.] | date = May 3, 2014 | title= Who could live outside the Pale of Settlement? | url=http://jewishfamilysearch.com/pale-of-settlement/ | format = blogpost | work=JewishFamilySearch.com | access-date=September 29, 2016 | quote = Presents 14 groups of Jews to whom permission might be granted to live outside of the Pale, indicating additional conditions, and presenting three reasons for temporary permissions to leave, for the 13 governates of the Russian Empire; the blogpost is by an academic historian, and states: 'These rules was regulated by the Law on Social Estates and the Law on Passports printed in vol. 9 and 14 of Свод законов Российской империи.'}}</ref> In some periods, special dispensations were given for Jews to live in the major imperial cities, but these were tenuous, and several thousand Jews were expelled to the Pale from [[Moscow]] as late as 1891. The extremely restrictive decrees and recurrent pogroms led to much emigration from the Pale, mainly to the United States and Western Europe. However, emigration could not keep up with birth rates and expulsion of Jews from other parts of the Russian Empire, and thus the Jewish population of the Pale continued to grow.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" />{{better source needed|date=August 2025}}

During World War I, the Pale lost its rigid hold on the Jewish population when large numbers of Jews fled into the Russian interior to escape the invading German army. The Pale of Settlement ''de facto'' ceased to exist on August 19, 1915, when the administrator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs allowed, in view of the emergency circumstances of wartime, the residence of Jews in urban settlements outside the Pale of Settlement, with the exception of capitals and localities under the jurisdiction of the ministers of the imperial court and the military (that is, palace suburbs of Petrograd and the frontline).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bu_3BQAAQBAJ |script-title=ru:Сборник важнейших законоположений и распоряжений, действующих с 1 июля 1914 по 1 января 1916 года, вызванных обстоятельствами военного времени |publisher=Direct Media |date=2013 |orig-date=1916 |page=73 |isbn=978-5-4460-6984-2}}</ref><ref>''Аронсон Г. Я.'' В борьбе за гражданские и национальные права: Общественные течения в русском еврействе // КРЕ-1. — С. 232.</ref> The Pale formally came to an end soon after the [[Nicholas II of Russia#Abdication (1917)|abdication of Nicholas II]], and as [[February Revolution|revolution gripped Russia]]. On March 20 (April 2 [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe|N.S.]]), 1917, the Pale was abolished by the [[Russian Provisional Government]] decree, ''On the abolition of religious and national restrictions''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://humanities.edu.ru/db/msg/41430|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041130033655/http://humanities.edu.ru/db/msg/41430|archive-date=2004-11-30|title="Об отмене вероисповедных и национальных ограничений". Постановление 20 марта 1917 г. |trans-title="On the abolition of religious and national restrictions." Decree 20 March 1917 |date=2004-11-30|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref><ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" /> The [[Second Polish Republic]] was reconstituted from much of the former territory of the Pale in the aftermath of World War I.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/poland/14.htm|title=Poland - Interwar Poland|website=countrystudies.us|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref> Subsequently, most of the Jewish population of the area would perish in [[the Holocaust]] one generation later.<ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" />{{better source needed|date=August 2025}}

==Jewish life in the Pale==
[[File:Jewish languages in the Russian Empire (1897).svg|thumb|Geographic distribution of Jewish languages (such as [[Yiddish]]) in the Russian Empire according to 1897 census. The Pale of Settlement can be seen in the west, top left.]]
[[File:Pale teacher.jpg|thumb|A ''[[melamed]]'' (Jewish teacher) in 19th century [[Podolia]]]]

Jewish life in the [[shtetl]]s ({{langx|yi|שטעטלעך}}, ''{{transliteration|yi|shtetlekh}}'', "little towns") of the Pale of Settlement was hard and poverty-stricken.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0018_0_18416.html |title=Shtetl |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]] |publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]], The Gale Group }}</ref> Following the Jewish religious tradition of ''[[tzedakah]]'' (charity), a sophisticated system of volunteer Jewish [[welfare spending|social welfare organizations]] developed to meet the needs of the population. Various organizations supplied clothes to poor students, provided [[kashrut|kosher food]] to Jewish soldiers conscripted into the [[Imperial Russian Army]], dispensed free medical treatment for the poor, offered dowries and household gifts to destitute brides, and arranged for technical education for orphans. According to historian Martin Gilbert's ''Atlas of Jewish History'', no province in the Pale had less than 14% of Jews on relief; Lithuanian and Ukrainian Jews supported as much as 22% of their poor populations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aish.com/jl/h/48956361.html|title=History Crash Course #56: Pale of Settlement|author=Rabbi Ken Spiro|work=aish.com|date=9 May 2009|access-date=19 August 2015}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2025}}

The concentration of Jews in the Pale, coupled with [[Alexander III of Russia|Tsar Alexander III]]'s "fierce hatred of the Jews", and the rumors that Jews had been involved in the assassination of his father, [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]], made them easy targets for [[pogrom]]s and anti-Jewish riots by the majority population.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Romanovs -- 1613 to 1918|last=Montefiore|first=Simon Sebag|pages=463–464}}</ref> These, along with the repressive [[May Laws]], often devastated whole communities. Though attacks occurred throughout the existence of the Pale, particularly devastating [[Pogroms in the Russian Empire|Russian pogroms]] occurred from 1881 to 1883 and from 1903 to 1906,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Modern Jewish History: Pogroms |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/pogroms.html |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]] |publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]], The Gale Group |date=2008 |access-date=19 August 2015 }}</ref> targeting hundreds of communities, assaulting thousands of Jews, and causing considerable property damage.

Jews typically could not engage in agriculture due to restrictions on Jews owning land and farming in the Pale,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shayevich |first1=Bela |title=The Saga of the Pale and Soviet Jews |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/soviet-jews-pale-settlement/ |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=The Nation |date=6 September 2023}}</ref> and were thus predominantly merchants, artisans, and shopkeepers. This made poverty a serious issue among the Jews. However, a robust Jewish community welfare system arose; by the end of the 19th century nearly 1 in 3 Jews in the Pale were being supported by Jewish welfare organizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/30.html|title=Beyond the Pale: Life in the Pale of Settlement|website=www.friends-partners.org|access-date=2019-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124122226/http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/30.html|archive-date=2010-11-24}}</ref><ref name="www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org" />{{better source needed|date=August 2025}} This Jewish support system included, but was not limited to, providing free medicine to the poor, giving [[dowry|dowries]] to poor brides, kosher food to Jewish soldiers, and education to orphans.<ref name="Spiro-2009" />

One outgrowth of the concentration of Jews in a circumscribed area was the development of the modern [[yeshiva]] system. Prior to the Pale, schools to study the [[Talmud]] were a luxury. This began to change when the rabbi [[Chaim of Volozhin]] began a sort of national-level yeshiva. In 1803, he founded the [[Volozhin Yeshiva]] and began to attract large number of students from around the Pale. The Tsarist authorities were not pleased with the school and sought to make it more secular, eventually closing it in 1879. The authorities re-opened it in 1881, but required all teachers to have diplomas from Russian institutions and to teach Russian language and culture. This requirement was not only untenable to the Jews, but essentially impossible, and the school closed for the last time in 1892. Regardless, the school had great impact: its students went on to form many new yeshivas in the Pale, and reignited the study of the Talmud in Russia.<ref name="Spiro-2009" />

After 1886, the [[Jewish quota]] was applied to education, with the percentage of Jewish students limited to no more than 10% within the Pale, 5% outside the Pale and 3% in the capitals of [[Moscow]], [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]], and [[Kyiv|Kiev]].{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} The quotas in the capitals, however, were increased slightly in 1908 and 1915.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

Amid the difficult conditions in which the Jewish population lived and worked, the courts of [[Hasidic dynasties]] flourished in the Pale.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} Thousands of followers of [[rebbe]]s such as the Gerrer Rebbe [[Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter]] (known as the ''Sfas Emes''), the [[Chernobyl (Hasidic dynasty)|Chernobyler Rebbe]], and the [[Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)|Vizhnitzer Rebbe]] flocked to their towns for the [[Jewish holidays]] and followed their rebbes' {{lang|he-Latn|[[minhag]]im}} ({{langx|he|מנהגים}}, Jewish practices) in their own homes.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

The tribulations of Jewish life in the Pale of Settlement were immortalized in the writings of [[Yiddish]] authors such as humorist [[Sholem Aleichem]], whose novel {{lang|yi-Latn|Tevye der Milkhiger}} ({{langx|yi|טבֿיה דער מילכיקער}}, ''Tevye the Milkman'', in the form of the narration of [[Tevye]] from a fictional shtetl of Anatevka to the author) forms the basis of the theatrical (and subsequent film) production ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''. Because of the harsh conditions of day-to-day life in the Pale, some two million Jews emigrated from there between 1881 and 1914, [[history of the Jews in the United States|mainly to the United States]].<ref>Ronnie S. Landau (1992) ''The Nazi Holocaust''. IB Tauris, London and New York: 57</ref>

In 1912–1914, [[S. An-sky]] led the [[Jewish Ethnographic Expedition]] to the Pale, which visited around 70 shtetls in [[Volhynia]], [[Podolia]], and [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], gathering folk stories and artifacts, recording music, and making photos, as an attempt to preserve and salvage traditional [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic]] culture that was vanishing because of modernization, pogroms, and emigration.

==Territories of the Pale==
The Pale of Settlement included the following areas.

===1791===
The ukase of [[Catherine the Great]] of December 23, 1791 limited the Pale to:

*[[Western Krai]]:
**[[Mogilev Governorate]]
**[[Polotsk Governorate]] (later reorganized into [[Vitebsk Governorate]])
*[[Little Russia]] (Ukraine):
**[[Kiev Governorate]]
**[[Chernigov Governorate]]
**[[Novgorod-Seversky Viceroyalty]] (later became [[Poltava Governorate]])
*[[Novorossiya Governorate]]
**[[Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty]]
**[[Taurida Oblast]] ([[Crimea]])

===1794===
After the [[Second Partition of Poland]], the ukase of June 23, 1794, the following areas were added:
*[[Minsk Governorate]]
*[[Mogilev Governorate]]
*[[Polotsk Governorate]]
*[[Kiev Governorate]]
*[[Volhynian Governorate]]
*[[Podolia Governorate]]

===1795===
After the [[Third Partition of Poland]], the following areas were added:
*[[Vilna Governorate]]
*[[Grodno Governorate]]

===1805–1835===
After 1805 the Pale gradually shrank, and became limited to the following areas:
*[[Lithuania]]n governorates
*[[Southwestern Krai]]
*[[Belarus]] without rural areas
*[[Malorossiya]] (Little Russia or Ukraine) without rural areas
*[[Chernigov Governorate]]
*[[Novorossiya]] without [[Mykolaiv|Nikolaev]] and [[Sevastopol]]
*[[Kiev Governorate]] without [[Kiev]]
*Baltic governorates closed for arriving Jews

Rural areas for {{convert|50|verst|km|lk=in}} from the western border were closed for new settlement of the Jews.

===After 1836===
* [[Chernigov Governorate]], [[Poltava Governorate]], [[Taurida Governorate]] (Crimea), [[Kherson Governorate]], [[Bessarabia Governorate]], [[Velizh]] Governorate.
* [[Northwestern Krai|Northwest Territories]] (Lithuania and Belarus): Vilnius, Kaunas, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk governorates.
* [[Southwestern Krai]] (Ukraine): Kiev, Volhynian Governorates.
* [[Congress Poland|Kingdom of Poland]]: Warsaw, Lublin, Płock, Kalisz, Piotrków, Kielce, Radom, Siedlce, Augustów gubernias (divided into Suwałki and Łomża in 1867).

In 1917 [[Congress Poland]] did not belong to the Pale of Settlement but Jews were allowed to settle there.<ref name="Jankowski, Tomasz [attr.]-2014"/>

===Final demographics===
[[File:Map showing percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, c. 1905.png|thumb|The Pale of Settlement and [[Congress Poland]], with the percentages of Jewish population {{circa|1905}}]]
According to the 1897 census, the governates or ''[[Governorate (Russia)|guberniyas]]'' had the following percentages of Jews:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_rel_97.php?reg=0 |script-title=ru:Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г.: Распределение населения по вероисповеданиям и регионам |trans-title=The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897: Population by religions and regions |language=ru |work=Демоскоп Weekly |access-date=30 September 2013 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Region || %
|-
!colspan = 2|[[Northwestern Krai]] (whole [[Lithuania]], [[Belarus]])
|-
|[[Vilna Governorate|Vilna]] || 12.86%
|-
|[[Kovno Governorate|Kovno]] || 13.77%
|-
|[[Grodno Governorate|Grodno]] ||17.49%
|-
|[[Minsk Governorate|Minsk]] ||16.06%
|-
|[[Mogilev Governorate|Mogilyov]] ||12.09%
|-
|[[Vitebsk Governorate|Vitebsk]] || 11.79%
|-
!colspan = 2|[[Southwestern Krai]] (North & Central [[Ukraine]])
|-
|[[Kiev Governorate|Kiev]] || 12.19%
|-
|[[Volhynian Governorate|Volhynia]] ||13.24%
|-
|[[Podolia Governorate|Podolia]] ||12.28%
|-
!colspan = 2|[[Congress Poland]]
|-
|[[Warsaw Governorate|Warsaw]] || 18.22%
|-
|[[Lublin Governorate|Lublin]] || 13.46%
|-
|[[Płock Governorate|Płock]] || 9.29%
|-
|[[Kalisz Governorate|Kalisz]] || 8.52%
|-
|[[Piotrków Governorate|Piotrków]] || 15.85%
|-
|[[Kielce Governorate|Kielce]] ||10.92%
|-
|[[Radom Governorate|Radom]] || 13.78%
|-
|[[Siedlce Governorate|Siedlce]] || 15.69%
|-
|[[Suwałki Governorate|Suwałki]] || 10.16%
|-
|[[Łomża Governorate|Łomża]] || 15.77%
|-
!colspan = 2|Others
|-
|[[Chernigov Governorate|Chernigov]] || 4.98%
|-
|[[Poltava Governorate|Poltava]] || 3.99%
|-
|[[Taurida Governorate|Taurida]] ([[Crimea]]) || 4.20% + [[Crimean Karaites|Karaite]] 0.43%
|-
|[[Kherson Governorate|Kherson]]|| 12.43%
|-
|[[Bessarabia Governorate|Bessarabia]] || 11.81%
|-
|[[Yekaterinoslav Governorate|Yekaterinoslav]] || 4.78%
|}

In 1882 it was forbidden for Jews to settle in rural areas.

The following cities within the Pale were excluded from it:
*[[Kiev]]
*[[Mykolaiv|Nikolaev]]
*[[Sevastopol]]
*[[Yalta]]

==In popular culture==
*''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'', which was later adapted into a [[Fiddler on the Roof (film)|film]], was located in the Pale of 1905 in the fictional town of Anatevka, [[Ukraine]].
*''[[Yentl (play)|Yentl]]'', also adapted into a [[Yentl (film)|film]], was located in the Pale of 1873 [[Poland]].
* Some novels of [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]] take place in the Pale.

==See also==
* [[The Pale]] (English Pale) around [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]]
* [[Pale of Calais]], English territory in France from 1360 to 1558
* [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast]], eastern Russian territory for Jews
* [[Antisemitism in the Russian Empire]]
* [[Antisemitism in Ukraine]]
* [[History of the Jews in Belarus]]
* [[History of the Jews in Lithuania]]
* [[History of the Jews in Poland]]
* [[History of the Jews in Russia]]
* [[History of the Jews in Ukraine]]
* [[Eastern European Jewry]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Abramson |first1=Henry |title=Jewish Representation in the Independent Ukrainian Governments of 1917-1920 |journal=Slavic Review |date=1991 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=542–550 |doi=10.2307/2499851 |jstor=2499851 |s2cid=181641495 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Geraci |first1=Robert |title=Pragmatism and Prejudice: Revisiting the Origin of the Pale of Jewish Settlement and Its Historiography |journal=The Journal of Modern History |date=December 2019 |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=776–814 |doi=10.1086/706046 |s2cid=210482001 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Pipes |first1=Richard |title=Catherine II and the Jews: The origins of the pale of settlement |journal=Soviet Jewish Affairs |date=January 1975 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=3–20 |doi=10.1080/13501677508577216 |s2cid=161658287 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rowland |first1=Richard H. |title=Geographical Patterns of the Jewish Population in the Pale of Settlement of Late Nineteenth Century Russia |journal=Jewish Social Studies |date=1986 |volume=48 |issue=3/4 |pages=207–234 |jstor=4467338 }}
* {{cite book |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674062641 |title=The Jewish Dark Continent: Life and Death in the Russian Pale of Settlement |date=2011 |last1=Deutsch |first1=Nathaniel |last2=An-Ski |first2=S. |isbn=978-0-674-06264-1 }}
* {{cite book |doi=10.1525/california/9780520208308.001.0001 |title=Beyond the Pale: The Jewish Encounter with Late Imperial Russia |date=2002 |last1=Nathans |first1=Benjamin |isbn=978-0-520-20830-8 }}

==External links==
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/pale.html The Pale of Settlement (with a map)] at [[Jewish Virtual Library]]
*[http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Pale_of_Settlement The Pale of Settlement (with map and additional documents)] at ''[[The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe]]''
*[http://yannayspitzer.net/2012/07/22/a-new-map-of-jewish-communities-in-the-russian-empire/ Jewish Communities in the Pale of Settlement] (with a map)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101124122226/http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/30.html Life in the Pale of Settlement] (with photos)
*[http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/fishstein/imagegallery.php?catname=SPECIAL%20IMPRINTS&catsub1=06 Map of the Pale in 1825]
*[https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CP%5CA%5CPaleofSettlement.htm "Pale of Settlement" at Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pale Of Settlement}}
[[Category:Antisemitism in Russia]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Historic Jewish communities in Europe]]
[[Category:History of Belarus (1795–1918)]]
[[Category:History of Lithuania (1795–1918)]]
[[Category:Congress Poland]]
[[Category:History of Bessarabia]]
[[Category:History of Ukraine (1795–1918)]]
[[Category:Jewish Belarusian history]]
[[Category:Jewish Lithuanian history]]
[[Category:Jewish Polish history]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Jewish Ukrainian history]]
[[Category:Politics of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Shtetls|*]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]
[[Category:Disabilities (Jewish) in Europe]]
[[Category:Society of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Settlement schemes]]
[[Category:Freedom of movement]]