Elisabethpol Governorate or Elizavetpol Governorate was one of the guberniya

Guberniya

A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...

s of the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

, with its centre in Elisabethpol (official name for Ganja

Ganja, Azerbaijan

Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...

 in 1805–1918). Its area was 44,136 sq. kilometres, and it had 878,415 inhabitants by 1897.

History

Elisabethpol Governorate was created in 1868 from parts of Baku Governorate

Baku Governorate

Baku Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Baku. Area : 34,4000 sq. verstas, population : 789,659. The only foreign border of the governorate was Persia, in the south...

 and Tiflis Governorate

Tiflis Governorate

Tiflis Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire with its centre in Tiflis . In 1897 it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants...

. This
included lands of the former Ganja Khanate

Ganja Khanate

The Ganja khanate was a Muslim principality mostly under the dominion of Persia that existed in the territory of Azerbaijan in 1747-1805. The principality was ruled by the dynasty of Ziyadoglu , which had ruled Ganja as governors under Nadir Shah and was of Qajar extraction...

, Shaki Khanate

Shaki Khanate

Shaki khanate was an Azerbaijani khanate on the territory of modern Azerbaijan between 1743 and 1819 with its capital in the town of Shaki.-History:...

, and Karabakh Khanate

Karabakh khanate

The Karabakh khanate was a semi-independent khanate on the territories of modern Azerbaijan and Armenia established in about 1750 under Persian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas. The Karabakh khanate existed until 1805, when the Russian Empire gained control over it from Persia...

. It bordered with Baku Governorate

Baku Governorate

Baku Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Baku. Area : 34,4000 sq. verstas, population : 789,659. The only foreign border of the governorate was Persia, in the south...

, Tiflis Governorate

Tiflis Governorate

Tiflis Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire with its centre in Tiflis . In 1897 it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants...

, Yerevan Governorate, Dagestan Oblast, and Persia.

Starting in 1905, there were attempts by the region's ethnic Armenians to separate the highland areas (commonly known as Mountainous Karabagh) from the rest of Elisabethpol. In these areas, 70% of the population was Armenian. Although the plan was eventually endorsed by the Russian viceroy, it was never adopted. Another attempt to create an independent Armenian state in the region was the Republic of Mountainous Armenia

Republic of Mountainous Armenia

The Republic of Mountainous Armenia was a short-lived and unrecognized state in the South Caucasus, roughly corresponding with the territory that is now the present-day Armenian provinces of Vayots Dzor and Syunik, and parts of the present-day Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.- Turkish–Armenian War :On...

 in 1921.

On the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...

 in 1918, Elisabethpol Governorate was renamed Ganja Governorate. The area to the south of the Murov Range was made into Karabakh

Karabakh

The Karabakh horse , also known as Karabakh, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse. It is named after the geographic region where the horse was originally developed, Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus, an area that is de jure part of Azerbaijan but the highland part of which is currently...

 Governorate General. The governorate system was abolished in the early 1920s.

Today, the territory of the former Elisabethpol Governorate is in western Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

 and adjacent areas of Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

.

Administrative division

Elisabethpol Governorate was originally divided into eight uyezd

Uyezd

Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...

s:

• Yelizavetpolsky
  Yelizavetpolsky Uyezd
  Elisabethpol Uyezd , also transliterated as Yelizabethpolsky Uyezd, and known as Ganja Uyezd was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Elisabethpol from 1840 until its formal abolition in 1929 by Soviet...
  
  
• Areshsky
  Areshsky Uyezd
  Areshsky Uyezd was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Agdash from 1874 until its formal abolition in 1929 by Soviet authorities....
  
  
• Nukhinsky
  Nukhinsky Uyezd
  Nukhinsky Uyezd , sometimes called Shakinsky Uyezd, was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Nukha from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1921 by Soviet authorities.-Geography:Elisabethpol Governorate...
  
  
• Kazakhsky
  Kazakhsky Uyezd
  Kazakhsky Uyezd was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Qazax from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1929 by Soviet authorities....
  
  
• Dzhevanshirsky
• Dzhebrailsky
  Dzhebrailsky Uyezd
  Dzhebrailsky Uyezd was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire with its center in Jabrayil from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1921 by the Soviet authorities.-Geography:...
  
  
• Zangezursky
  Zangezursky Uyezd
  Zangezursky Uyezd was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire with its center in Gorysy from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1921 by Soviet authorities.-Geography:...
  
  
• Shushinsky
  Shushinsky Uyezd
  Shushinsky Uyezd , was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, and then of Ganja Governorate of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Shusha in 1840–1921.-Geography:...
  
  

Demographics

The 1886 population estimate was 728,943, living in 3 cities (Elisabethpol, Nukha, and Shusha

Shusha

Shusha , also known as Shushi is a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...

) and 1521 villages.
According to the 1897 census

Russian Empire Census

The Russian Imperial Census of 1897 was the first and the only census carried out in the Russian Empire . It recorded demographic data as of ....

, the total population was 878,415. Azeris (called "Azerbaijani Tatars" at the time) at 534,086 (60.8%) and Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 at 292,188 (33.3%) were the largest ethnic groups. Other ethnic groups included Lezgins

Lezgins

The Lezgians are an ethnic group living predominantly in southern Dagestan and northeastern Azerbaijan and who speak the Lezgian language.- Historical concept :While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred...

 (14,503 or 1.7%; reported at the time as Кюринцы and Гапутлинцы ), Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 (14,146 or 1.6%), Udis (7,040 or 0.8%), Germans

Caucasus Germans

Caucasus Germans are part of the German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union. They migrated to the Caucasus largely in the first half of the 19th century and settled in the North Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and in the region of Kars...

 (3,194 or 0.4%) and Kurds (3,042 or 0.3%).

According to 1886 statistics reported in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary

The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary is, in its scope and style, the Russian counterpart to the Encyclopædia Britannica. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps...

,
the Orthodox Christians constituted 0.21% of the Governorate's population, and various "sectarians" (сектанты) around 1% (i.e., some 7,300 people). This means that most of the ethnic Russians in the Governorate at the time (1.11% of the Governorate's 728,943 population in 1886) were members of various dissenter communities, such as Doukhobor

Doukhobor

The Doukhobors or Dukhobors , earlierDukhobortsy are a group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity. The origin of the Doukhobors is...

s and Molokan

Molokan

Molokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...

s.

Ethnic groups in 1897

Uyezd	Azerbaijani Turks Azerbaijani people The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...	Armenians Armenians Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....	Lezgins Lezgins The Lezgians are an ethnic group living predominantly in southern Dagestan and northeastern Azerbaijan and who speak the Lezgian language.- Historical concept :While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred...	Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....	Belarusians Belarusians Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...	Germans Germans The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....	Kurds	Udins
TOTAL	60,8%	33,3%	1,7%	1,6%	...	...	...	...
Aresh Areshsky Uyezd Areshsky Uyezd was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Agdash from 1874 until its formal abolition in 1929 by Soviet authorities....	70,1%	20,5%	8,7%	...	...	...	...	...
Jebrayil	74,1%	23,7%	...	1,1%	...	...	...	...
Javanshir Javanshir Uyezd Dzhevanshirsky Uyezd also spelled as Jevanshir Uyezd, was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, with its center in Tartar in 1869–1918.-Geography:...	71,6%	26,9%	...	...	...	...	...	...
Elisabethpol	63,9%	26,4%	...	4,4%	1,7%	1,9%	...	...
Zangezur	51,6%	46,1%	...	...	...	...	1,3%	...
Kazakh	57,2%	38,9%	...	3,0%	...	...	...	...
Nukha	69,3%	15,7%	7,1%	...	...	...	...	5,8%
Shusha	45,3%	53,3%	...	1,0%	...	...	...	...

Known governors

• Fokion Bulatov, 1868–1876
• Alexander Nakashidze, 1880–1897
• Ivan Kireyev, 1897–1900
• Nikolai Lutsau, 1900–1905
• Yegor Baranovsky, 1905 (acting)
• Alexander Kalachev, 1905–1907
• Samkalov, 1907–1908
• Georgi Kovalev, 1908–1916
• Mikhail Poyarkov, 1916–1917