58°11′N68°16′E / 58.183°N 68.267°E /58.183; 68.267
| Siberia Governorate Сибирская губерния (Russian) | |||||||||||
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| Governorate of Russian Empire | |||||||||||
| 1708–1782 | |||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||
 Governorate subdivision ofRussian Empire in 1682-1762. Siberia Governorate is shown as number 8. | |||||||||||
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| Capital | Tobolsk | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | December 29 [O.S. December 18] 1708 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | January 30 [O.S. January 19] 1782 | ||||||||||
| Political subdivisions | three provinces | ||||||||||
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Siberia Governorate (Russian:Сибирская губерния,romanized: Sibirskaya guberniya) was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of theTsardom of Russia and theRussian Empire, which existed from 1708 until 1782. Its seat was inTobolsk (initially spelt asTobolesk). The governorate was located in the east of Russian Empire and borderedChina in the south,Kazan Governorate in the southwest, andArchangelgorod Governorate in the northwest. In the north and the east, the governorate was limited by the seas of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. In terms of area, Siberia Governorate was by far the biggest of all the governorates, as it included areas in theUrals,Siberia, and theRussian Far East some of which were not yet even settled by Russians at the time.
Siberia Governorate, together with seven other governorates, was established on December 29 [O.S. December 18], 1708, byTsarPeter the Great's edict.[1] As with the rest of the governorates, neither the borders nor internal subdivisions of Siberia Governorate were defined; instead, the territory was defined as a set of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities.[2]
At the time of establishment, the following thirty cities were included in Siberia Governorate:[1]
In 1719, the governorate was divided into three provinces:Vyatka,Solikamsk, andTobolsk. Simultaneously,Yarensky Uyezd with the administrative center ofYarensk was moved from Siberia Governorate toArchangelgorod Governorate.[3]
In 1724, Tobolsk Province was split intoYeniseysk,Irkutsk, and Tobolsk Provinces. In 1727, Vyatka and Solikamsk Provinces were transferred to Kazan Governorate.[4]
In 1736,Okhotsky Uyezd was split off fromYakutsky Uyezd. In the same year, Siberia Governorate was split into two independent areas:Siberia Province, which consisted of the former Tobolsk and Yeniseysk Provinces, under the authority of the governor (posted in Tobolsk), and Irkutsk Province. In 1737, the areas in the South Urals were organized intoIset Province with the center in the town ofShadrinsk, and the province was transferred intoOrenburg Governorate. In 1764,Irkutsk Governorate was established in place of the former Irkutsk Province.[4]
In 1782, Siberia Governorate was abolished, and its area split intoTobolsk Viceroyalty andKolyvan Viceroyalty. Irkutsk Governorate was transformed intoIrkutsk Viceroyalty.[4]
The administration of the governorate was performed by a governor. The governors of Siberia Governorate were:[5]
