| Kazan Governorate Казанская губерния (Russian) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governorate of theRussian Empire | |||||||||||
| 1708–1920 | |||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||
.svg) Location in the Russian Empire | |||||||||||
| Capital | Kazan | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
• | 63,618 km2 (24,563 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1913 | 2,850,000 | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1708 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1920 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Kazan Governorate[a] was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of theTsardom of Russia, theRussian Empire, and theRussian SFSR from 1708 to 1920, with its capital inKazan.
Kazan Governorate, together with seven other governorates, was established on December 29 [O.S. December 18], 1708, byTsarPeter the Great's edict[1] on the lands of theKhanates ofKazan,Sibir, andAstrakhan, with addition of some lands from theNogai Horde. These were the areas historically governed by the Kazan Palace'sPrikaz. As with the rest of the governorates, neither the borders nor internal subdivisions of Kazan Governorate were defined; instead, the territory was defined as a set of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities.[2]
In 1717,Astrakhan Governorate was separated from Kazan Governorate; in 1719—Nizhny Novgorod; in 1744—Orenburg; in 1781—Vyatka,Simbirsk, andUfa Governorates were separated. UnderCatherine the Great (1781–1796) Kazan was the center of anamestnichestvo (viceroyalty), with Kazan,Penza, andSaratov Governorates as its integral parts.[citation needed]
At first the governorate was divided into lots (доли,doli), then into provinces (провинции,provintsii) in 1719, and intouyezds (уезды) in 1775. Prior to 1796, there were Kazan,Kozmodemyansk,Laishev,Mamadysh,Sviyazhsk,Spassk,Tetyushi,Tsaryovokokshaysk,Tsivilsk,Cheboksary,Chistopol, andYadrin uyezds.
In 1913, the area of the governorate comprised 55,900 squareversts, its population was estimated at 2.85 million (38.9%Russians, 31.2%Tatars, 22.8%Chuvash, 5.1%Mari, 1.2%Mordva). There were 7,272 settlements, including 13 towns: Kazan,Arsk,Sviyazhsk, Kozmodemyansk,Laishev,Mamadysh,Spassk,Tetyushi,Tsaryovokokshaysk,Tsivilsk,Cheboksary,Chistopol,Yadrin; and twoposads:Mariinsky Posad andTroitsky Posad.[citation needed]
The governorate was finally abolished during theBolshevik administrative reform (seeIdel-Ural State). Thereupon its Eastern part was proclaimed theTatar ASSR, while the Western part was eventually divided betweenChuvashia andMari El.[citation needed]
Kazan Governorate consisted of the following uyezds (administrative centres in parentheses):
| Language | Native speakers | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Russian | 832,475 | 38.3% |
| Tatar | 675,419 | 31.1% |
| Chuvash | 502,042 | 23.1% |
| Mari | 122,717 | 5.6% |
| Mordvin | 22,187 | 1.0% |
| Udmurt | 9,679 | 0.4% |
| Polish | 1,700 | 0.07% |
| Yiddish | 1,381 | 0.06% |
| German | 1,155 | 0.05% |
| Other languages | 1.910 | 0.08% |
| Total | 2,170,665 | 100.00 |
55°47′27″N49°06′52″E / 55.7908°N 49.1144°E /55.7908; 49.1144
