| Area Total Km2: | 6,675.68 |
| Established Date: | 1849 |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Extinct Date: | 1917 |
| Extinct Title: | Abolished |
| Mapsize: | 220px |
| Black Sea Governorate | |
| Native Name: | Черноморская губернія |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Population As Of: | 1916 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Rural: | 53.61% |
| Population Total: | 178,306 |
| Population Urban: | 46.39% |
| Seat: | Novorossiysk |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Settlement Type: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name: | Russian Empire |
| Subdivision Name1: | Caucasus |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Viceroyalty |
| Total Type: | Total |
The Black Sea Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate was the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. In 1905, the population of the governorate was approximately 70,000 and its area was 6455verst2, making it the smallest Russian governorate by both measures.[1] The governorate ceased to exist when the Black Sea Soviet Republic was established on its territory in the spring of 1918—later the governorate was incorporated into the Kuban-Black Sea Oblast of the Russian SFSR in March 1920.
The districts (okrugs) of the Black Sea Governorate in 1917 were as follows:
| Name | Administrative centre | Population | Area | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897[2] | 1916[3] | 1897 | 1916 | ||||
| Novorossiysky okrug | Novorossiysk | 16,869 | 51,651 | 34,908 | 75,021 | 999.13verst2 | |
| Sochinsky okrug | Sochi | 1,392 | 13,254 | 13,519 | 62,920 | 3304.84verst2 | |
| Tuapsinsky okrug | Tuapse | 1,352 | 17,817 | 9,051 | 40,365 | 1561.86verst2 | |
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 57,478 on, including 34,776 men and 22,702 women. The plurality of the population indicated Russian to be their mother tongue, with significant Ukrainian, Armenian, and Greek speaking minorities.[4]
| Native language | Number | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | 24,635 | 42.86 | |
| Ukrainian | 9,252 | 16.10 | |
| Armenian | 6,285 | 10.93 | |
| Greek | 5,969 | 10.38 | |
| Circassian | 1,939 | 3.37 | |
| Czech | 1,290 | 2.24 | |
| Jewish | 990 | 1.72 | |
| Georgian | 967 | 1.68 | |
| Romanian | 923 | 1.61 | |
| Estonian | 791 | 1.38 | |
| German | 748 | 1.30 | |
| Polish | 731 | 1.27 | |
| Belarusian | 659 | 1.15 | |
| Turkish | 650 | 1.13 | |
| Mingrelian | 304 | 0.53 | |
| Tatar | 291 | 0.51 | |
| Persian | 210 | 0.37 | |
| Imeretian | 158 | 0.27 | |
| Other | 686 | 1.19 | |
| TOTAL | 57,478 | 100.00 |
| Male | Female | Both | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | ||||
| Eastern Orthodox | 26,085 | 16,980 | 43,065 | 74.92 | |
| Armenian Apostolic | 3,506 | 2,635 | 6,141 | 10.68 | |
| Muslim | 2,072 | 1,031 | 3,103 | 5.40 | |
| Roman Catholic | 1,485 | 944 | 2,429 | 4.23 | |
| Lutheran | 835 | 580 | 1,415 | 2.46 | |
| Judaism | 567 | 461 | 1,028 | 1.79 | |
| Old Believer | 53 | 36 | 89 | 0.15 | |
| Armenian Catholic | 58 | 24 | 82 | 0.14 | |
| Reformed | 70 | 1 | 71 | 0.12 | |
| Karaite | 18 | 6 | 24 | 0.04 | |
| Anglican | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.01 | |
| Mennonite | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Baptist | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| Other Christian denomination | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 17 | 0 | 17 | 0.03 | |
| TOTAL | 34,776 | 22,702 | 57,478 | 100.00 | |
| Russian | Ukrainian | Greek | TOTAL | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |||
| Novorossiysk | 10,860 | 64.27 | 2,177 | 12.88 | 931 | 5.51 | 16,897 | |
| Tuapse | 827 | 59.41 | 116 | 8.33 | 189 | 13.58 | 1,392 | |
| Sochi | 513 | 37.94 | 269 | 19.90 | 26 | 1.92 | 1,352 | |
| TOTAL | 12,200 | 62.11 | 2,562 | 13.04 | 1,146 | 5.83 | 19,641 | |
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 178,306 on, including 104,488 men and 73,818 women, 108,893 of whom were the permanent population, and 69,413 were temporary residents:
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||
| Russians | 65,582 | 79.28 | 54,339 | 56.85 | 119,921 | 67.26 | |
| Other Europeans | 6,246 | 7.55 | 15,107 | 15.80 | 21,353 | 11.98 | |
| Armenians | 2,347 | 2.84 | 15,712 | 16.44 | 18,059 | 10.13 | |
| Georgians | 1,750 | 2.12 | 4,336 | 4.54 | 6,086 | 3.41 | |
| Asiatic Christians | 3,407 | 4.12 | 1,932 | 2.02 | 5,339 | 2.99 | |
| North Caucasians | 672 | 0.81 | 3,426 | 3.58 | 4,104 | 2.30 | |
| Jews | 1,784 | 2.16 | 9 | 0.01 | 1,793 | 1.01 | |
| Shia Muslims | 922 | 1.11 | 649 | 0.68 | 1,571 | 0.88 | |
| Sunni Muslims | 12 | 0.01 | 56 | 0.06 | 68 | 0.04 | |
| Roma | 0 | 0.00 | 12 | 0.01 | 12 | 0.01 | |
| TOTAL | 82,722 | 100.00 | 95,584 | 100.00 | 178,306 | 100.00 | |