| Area Total Km2: | 37,948.97 |
| Elevation Max M: | 4,466 |
| Elevation Max Point: | Mount Bazardüzü |
| Established Date: | 1846 |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Extinct Date: | 1920 |
| Extinct Title: | Abolished |
| Mapsize: | 220px |
| Baku Governorate | |
| Native Name: | Бакинская губерния |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Population As Of: | 1916 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Rural: | 91.72% |
| Population Total: | 875,746 |
| Population Urban: | 8.28% |
| Seat: | Baku |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Settlement Type: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name: | Russian Empire |
| Subdivision Name1: | Caucasus |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Viceroyalty |
| Total Type: | Total |
The Baku Governorate, known before 1859 as the Shemakha Governorate, was a province (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its center in the booming metropolis and Caspian Sea port of Baku. Area (1897): 34,400 sq. versts, population (1897): 789,659.[1] The Baku Governorate bordered Persia to the south, the Elizavetpol Governorate (the Tiflis and Erivan governorates before 1868) to the west, the Dagestan Oblast to the north, and the Baku gradonachalstvo to the east on the Absheron Peninsula.
The governorate was originally established in 1846 as the Shemakha Governorate, replacing what had been several military precincts. Following the catastrophic 1859 Shamakhi earthquake, the capital of the governorate was transferred from Shamakha (Shаmakhi) to the fast-growing city of Baku, and on July 12, 1859, the governorate's name was changed accordingly. The coat of arms of the Baku Governorate was instituted on July 5, 1878.[2] Initially, the Baku Governorate included the areas of the former khanates of Karabakh and Shaki until these areas were detached in 1868 to form part of the adjacent Elizavetpol Governorate.
The Armenians were dominant in the commerce of the Baku Governorate as evidenced by them controlling 29% of enterprises in the province as opposed to the Azerbaijanis owning only 18%. Whilst Armenians enjoyed more favourable treatment under the Russian administration and produced oil tycoons such as Alexander Mantashev, Azerbaijanis made up most of the unskilled low-paid labor jobs and were virtually absent from the administration of the province despite their preponderance. In the early 20th century, Russian official Grigory Golitsyn increased the number of Azerbaijanis in the administration and confiscated properties of the Armenian Apostolic Church, however, his anti-Armenian policies (which provoked the Armenian–Tatar clashes) were later repealed in 1905 under the rule of Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov.[3]
Upon the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Baku Governorate was incorporated into the fledgling state and subsequently separated into a smaller Baku General-Governorate and a Lenkoran General-Governorate, the latter being the location of the Provisional Military Dictatorship of Mughan which was suppressed in spring 1919. The governorate was eventually abolished in its entirety following the establishment of Soviet rule in Azerbaijan in 1920, however, its uezds ("counties") continued to exist until their administrative reorganization into raions ("districts") in 1929–1930.
The counties (uezds) of the Baku Governorate in 1917 were as follows:[4]
| Name | Administrative centre | Population | Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | 1916 | ||||
| Baku uezd | Baku | 182,897 | 16,268 | 2610.22verst2 | |
| Geokchay uezd | Geokchay (Goychay) | 117,705 | 134,098 | 4676.58verst2 | |
| Javad uezd | Salyan | 90,043 | 162,305 | 8396.97verst2 | |
| Kuba uezd | Kuba (Quba) | 183,242 | 198,204 | 6308.61verst2 | |
| Lenkoran uezd | Lenkoran (Lankaran) | 130,987 | 203,319 | 4726.88verst2 | |
| Shemakha uezd | Shemakha (Shamakhi) | 121,842 | 161,552 | 6625.99verst2 | |
The ethnic group composition of the governorate changed considerably in the latter part of the 19th century. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 214,700 inhabitants, amongst them, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians consisting of 76.3 thousand (35.5%), Tatars 46 thousand (21.4%), Armenians 42 thousand (19.4%), Persians 25 thousand (11.7%), Jews 9.7 thousand (4.5%), Georgians 4 thousand (1.9%), Germans 3.3 thousand (1.5%), and Kazan Tatars 2.3 thousand (1.1%).[5] Muslims generally lived in the historical centre of Baku (Old Baku), surrounded by the khan's castle in the west of the city. Armenians mostly lived in the industrial zone in the north of the city. During the construction of the new city centre, various ethnic groups started to move to different districts.[6]
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Baku Governorate had a population of 826,716 on, including 458,065 men and 368,651 women. The majority of the population indicated Tatar to be their mother tongue, with significant Tat, Russian, Armenian, Kyurin, and Talysh speaking minorities.
| Language | Native speakers | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tatar | 485,146 | 58.68 | |
| Tat | 89,519 | 10.83 | |
| Russian | 73,632 | 8.91 | |
| Armenian | 52,233 | 6.32 | |
| Kyurin | 48,192 | 5.83 | |
| Talysh | 34,994 | 4.23 | |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 11,811 | 1.43 | |
| Jewish | 8,172 | 0.99 | |
| Persian | 5,973 | 0.72 | |
| German | 3,430 | 0.41 | |
| Ukrainian | 3,372 | 0.41 | |
| Avar-Andean | 2,898 | 0.35 | |
| Georgian | 1,616 | 0.20 | |
| Polish | 1,439 | 0.17 | |
| Turkish | 1,155 | 0.14 | |
| Belarusian | 677 | 0.08 | |
| Mordovian | 531 | 0.06 | |
| Swedish | 347 | 0.04 | |
| Greek | 278 | 0.03 | |
| Lithuanian | 272 | 0.03 | |
| Other | 1,029 | 0.12 | |
| TOTAL | 826,716 | 100.00 |
| Male | Female | Both | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | ||||
| Muslim | 372,770 | 303,473 | 676,243 | 81.80 | |
| Eastern Orthodox | 32,164 | 23,926 | 56,090 | 6.78 | |
| Armenian Apostolic | 31,403 | 21,160 | 52,563 | 6.36 | |
| Old Believer | 11,075 | 10,837 | 21,912 | 2.65 | |
| Judaism | 6,599 | 6,154 | 12,753 | 1.54 | |
| Lutheran | 1,911 | 1,869 | 3,780 | 0.46 | |
| Roman Catholic | 1,574 | 644 | 2,218 | 0.27 | |
| Baptist | 313 | 350 | 663 | 0.08 | |
| Armenian Catholic | 96 | 109 | 205 | 0.02 | |
| Reformed | 102 | 88 | 190 | 0.02 | |
| Karaite | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.00 | |
| Anglican | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.00 | |
| Buddhist | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 | |
| Mennonite | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Other Christian denomination | 42 | 31 | 73 | 0.01 | |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 | |
| TOTAL | 458,065 | 368,651 | 826,716 | 100.00 | |
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Baku Governorate had a population of 875,746 on, including 465,711 men and 410,035 women, 838,717 of whom were the permanent population, and 37,029 were temporary residents:
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||
| Shia Muslims | 34,499 | 47.58 | 395,319 | 49.22 | 429,818 | 49.08 | |
| Sunni Muslims | 12,905 | 17.80 | 249,851 | 31.11 | 262,756 | 30.00 | |
| Russians | 3,788 | 5.22 | 68,847 | 8.57 | 72,635 | 8.29 | |
| North Caucasians | 631 | 0.87 | 49,144 | 6.12 | 49,775 | 5.68 | |
| Armenians | 5,663 | 7.81 | 37,258 | 4.64 | 42,921 | 4.90 | |
| Jews | 14,948 | 20.62 | 2,613 | 0.33 | 17,561 | 2.01 | |
| Asiatic Christians | 22 | 0.03 | 139 | 0.02 | 161 | 0.02 | |
| Other Europeans | 53 | 0.07 | 36 | 0.00 | 89 | 0.01 | |
| Georgians | 0 | 0.00 | 30 | 0.00 | 30 | 0.00 | |
| TOTAL | 72,509 | 100.00 | 803,237 | 100.00 | 875,746 | 100.00 | |