Podolia Governorate

Podolia GovernorateTemplate:Efn was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessarabia Governorate to the south, and Austria to the west. Its administrative centre was Kamenets-Podolsky (Kamianets-Podilskyi), which later moved to Vinnitsa (Vinnytsia). The governorate covered areas of Ukraine's partially Khmelnytskyi and most of Vinnytsia Oblasts, along with the fractionally recognised state of Transnistria.

It was created from the Second Partition of Poland, which was formed from the former Polish Bracław and Podole voivodeships, which are part of the Southwestern Krai along with Volhynia and Kiev. Its capital was located in Kamenets-Podolsky, which later moved to Vinnitsa. The governorate still existed until the administrative reforms of the Ukrainian SSR, which dissolved it into five okruhas.

History

File:Podolany. J. Kossak. Jarmarok 1864.jpg

A market scene in Podolia, c. 1864

The Government of Podolia was established right after the Second Partition of Poland in place of the former Podole and Bracław Voivodeships in 1793.

Location

The Podolia Governorate occupied the southwestern frontier of the former Russian empire, bordering Austria-Hungary, and had an area of about 42,000 km². The administrative centre was Kamenets-Podolskiy until 1914 when it moved to Vinnytsia.

Podolia Governorate was one of the three governorates of the Southwestern Krai administration. In 1917 it was recognized by the Russian Provisional Government to be governed by the General Secretariat of Ukraine as the representative of the Russian Provisional Government in the region.

File:Podoliskaia gubernia.jpg

Old map of Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire.

Administrative division

Uyezd subdivision

Until 1918 the governorate consisted of 12 uyezds (counties):

County		County Town	Arms of County Town	Area	Population (1897 census)
Transliteration name	Russian Cyrillic
Baltsky	Балтский	Balta	File:Balta COA (Podolia Governorate) (1852).gif		391,018
Bratslavsky	Брацлавский	Bratslav	File:Bratslav COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).png		241,868
Vinnitsky	Винницкий	Vinnitsa	File:Vinnitsa COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).png		248,314
Gaysinsky	Гайсинский	Gaysin	File:Gaysin COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		248,142
Kamenets-Podolsky	Каменец-Подольский	Kamenets-Podolsky	File:Kamenets-Podolskiy COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		266,350
Letichevsky	Летичевский	Letichev	File:Letichev COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		184,477
Litinsky	Литинский	Litin	File:Litin COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		210,502
Mogilyovsky	Могилёвский	Mogilyov	File:Mogilev COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		227,672
Novoushitsky	Новоушицкий	Novaya Ushitsa	File:Novaya Ushitsa COA (Podolia Governorate) (1838).gif		223,312
Olgopolsky	Ольгопольский	Olgopol	File:Olgopol COA (Podolia Governorate) (1820).gif		284,253
Proskurovsky	Проскуровский	Proskurov	File:Proskurov COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		226,091
Yampolsky	Ямпольский	Yampol	File:Yampol COA (Podolia Governorate) (1796).gif		266,300

File:MaszkowskiJan.WKarczmieNaPodolu.jpg

Podolian korchma

Okruha subdivision

On 12 April 1923 all uyezds (counties) were transformed into okruhas (counties), while volosts (districts) – into raions (districts). Okruhas served as a subdivision of government until it was abolished on 1 August 1925. Together with the government of Podilia, the Haisyn okruha was dissolved as well. Some territory of Tulchyn okruha were included into the newly formed Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

• Vinnytsia
• Haisyn
• Kamianets
• Mohyliv
• Proskuriv
• Tulchyn

Principal cities

Russian Census of 1897:

File:Kamieniec Podolski.jpg

Kamenets/Podolsky

• Kamenets/Podolsky – 35 934 (Jewish – 16 112, Ukrainian – 9 755, Russian – 7 420)
• Vinnitsa – 30 563 (Jewish – 11 456, Ukrainian – 10 862, Russian – 5 206)
• Balta – 23 363 (Jewish – 13 164, Russian – 5 385, Ukrainian – 4 124)
• Proskurov – 22 855 (Jewish – 11 369, Ukrainian – 4 425, Russian – 3 483)
• Mogilev/Dnestr – 22 315 (Jewish – 12 188, Ukrainian – 6 512, Russian – 2 668)
• Zhmerinka – 12 908
• Khmelnik – 11 657 (Jewish – 5 979, Ukrainian – 5 375, Polish – 150)

Smaller cities

• Bar – 9 982 (Jewish – 5 764, Ukrainian – 3 332, Russian – 485)
• Lityn – 9 420 (Jewish – 3 828, Ukrainian – 3 047, Russian – 2 126)
• Gaysin – 9 374 (Jewish – 4 322, Ukrainian – 3 946, Russian – 884)
• Olgopol – 8 134 (Ukrainian – 4 837, Jewish – 2 465, Russian – 625)
• Bratslav – 7 863 (Jewish – 3 275, Ukrainian – 2 608, Russian – 1 782)
• Letichev – 7 248 (Jewish – 4 105, Ukrainian – 1 719, Polish – 741)
• Yampol – 6 605 (Ukrainian – 3 282, Jewish – 2 819, Russian – 275)
• Novaya Ushytsa – 6 371 (Jewish – 2 214, Russian – 2 120, Ukrainian – 1 836)
• Staraya Ushytsa – 4 176 (Ukrainian – 2 488, Jewish – 1 584, Polish – 57)
• Salnitsa – 3 699 (Ukrainian – 2 758, Jewish – 899, Polish – 19)
• Verbovets – 2 311 (Ukrainian – 1 282, Jewish – 661, Polish – 326)

Language

File:1897 Gov Podil ethno.jpg

Imperial census of 1897.

According to the Russian Empire Census on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, the Podolia Governorate had a population of 3,018,299, including 1,505,940 men and 1,512,359 women. The majority of the population indicated Little RussianTemplate:Efn to be their mother tongue, with a significant Jewish speaking minority.

Linguistic composition of the Podolia Governorate in 1897

Language	Native speakers	Percentage
Little RussianTemplate:Efn	2,442,819	80.93
Jewish	369,306	12.24
Great RussianTemplate:Efn	98,984	3.28
Polish	69,156	2.29
Romanian	26,764	0.89
German	4,069	0.13
Tatar	2,296	0.08
Bashkir	1,113	0.04
Czech	886	0.03
White RussianTemplate:Efn	834	0.03
Roma	510	0.02
Votyak	254	0.01
French	245	0.01
Chuvash	137	0.00
Mordovian	136	0.00
Latvian	112	0.00
Cheremis	101	0.00
Other languages	577	0.02
TOTAL	3,018,299	100.00

Religious composition of the Podolia Governorate in 1897

Faith	Male	Female	Both
			Number	Percentage
Eastern Orthodox	1,180,148	1,178,349	2,358,497	78.14
Judaism	179,612	191,000	370,612	12.28
Roman Catholic	131,145	131,593	262,738	8.70
Old Believer	9,357	9,492	18,849	0.62
Lutheran	2,020	1,795	3,815	0.13
Islam	3,427	33	3,460	0.11
Armenian Apostolic	65	29	94	0.00
Reformed	30	26	56	0.00
Armenian Catholic	23	14	37	0.00
Karaite	11	13	24	0.00
Anglican	3	4	7	0.00
Mennonite	2	1	3	0.00
Baptist	1	1	2	0.00
Other Christian denomination	12	9	21	0.00
Other non-Christian denomination	84	0	84	0.00
Total	1,505,940	1,512,359	3,018,299	100.00

File:Besht Shul1 Medzhibozh.jpg

The Baal Shem Tov's shul in Medzhybizh, Ukraine (c. 1915). The shul no longer exists.

Religious structures

• Churches
  • Eastern Orthodox 1645
  • Roman Catholic (kosciol) 202
  • Lutheran 4
• Monasteries
  • Eastern Orthodox 7 (male), 4 (female)
• Synagogues 89
  • other Shul(s) 438
• Mosque(s) 1

See also

• Podolia