Baku Governorate


Baku Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Baku. Area : 34,4000 sq. versts, population : 789,659. The only foreign border of the governorate was Persia, in the south. Within the empire it bordered with Elisabethpol Governorate and Dagestan Oblast.
The governorate was established in 1846 as Shemakha Governorate, in place of several military precincts. In 1849 Shahur-Daralagoz uzeyd was part of newly founded Erivan Governorate. After the devastating 1859 Shamakhi earthquake it was decided to transfer the capital of the governorate from Shemakha to Baku. On July 12, 1859 the governorate's name was changed accordingly. The coat of arms of the governorate was instituted on July 5, 1878. Initially Baku Governorate included Karabakh and Zangezur, which were separated in 1868 to create Elisabethpol Governorate.
The governorate was preserved until the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, when it was split into Baku Governorate and Lankaran General-Governorate.

Administrative division

Baku Governorate had six uyezds :
According to 1897 census, 789,659 people populated the governorate, of them 55% were male. Azeris constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of Russians, Armenians, Lezgins, Tats, Talysh and Jews.

Ethnic groups in 1897http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=319 Демоскоп [Weekly - Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам. Российской Империи кроме губерний Европейской России]

UyezdAzerbaijani Tatars
TatsRussiansArmeniansLezginsTalysh peopleOther DagestaniGermansPersianJewsAvars
TOTAL58,7%10,8%8,9%6,3%5,8%4,2%1,4%............
Baku34,7%18,9%24,0%12,3%.........1,8%2,6%1,1%...
Geokchay79,0%3,4%2,1%11,0%1,7%...............1,5%
Javad93,3%...4,5%........................
Kuba38,3%25,3%1,4%...24,4%...6,3%......2,2%...
Lankaran64,7%...7,2%0,37%...26,7%...............
Shamakhi73,7%3,7%9,3%11,7%...............0.9%...

Ethnic groups at the start of the 20th century

The ethnic group composition was notable different as compared to several decades earlier. At the beginning of the 20th century in Baku, it had 214,700 inhabitants, amongst them Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians - 76,3 thousand ->, Azerbaijanis - 46 thousand ->, Armenians - 42 thousand ->, Persians\Iranians - 25 thousand ->, Jews - 9,7 thousand ->, Georgians - 4 thousand ->, Germans - 3.3 thousand ->, the Kazan Tatars - 2.3 thousand ->. Muslims generally lived in the historical center, surrounded by the khan's castle in the west of the city. In the industrial zone lived the Armenians - in the north of the city. During the construction of the new city center, various ethnic groups started to live in different districts.

Known governors