Subdivisions of Congress Poland


Congress Poland was subdivided several times from its creation in 1815 until its dissolution in 1918. Congress Poland was divided into departments, a relic from the times of the French-dominated Duchy of Warsaw. In 1816 the administrative divisions were changed to forms that were more traditionally Polish: voivodeships, obwóds and powiats. Following the November Uprising, the subdivisions were again changed in 1837 to bring the subdivisions closer to the structure of the Russian Empire when guberniyas were introduced. In this way, Congress Poland was gradually transformed into the "Vistulan Country". Over the next several decades, various smaller reforms were carried out, either changing the smaller administrative units or merging/splitting various guberniyas.

Subdivisions in modern Lithuania

Today, almost all of the subdivisions of Congress Poland may be found, in similar territorial areas, in modern Poland. A few, roughly in the northern panhandle of Congress Poland, are to be found in modern Lithuania. They are:

From 1816 to 1837

On January 16, 1816, the areas of administrative jurisdiction were reformed from the departments of the Duchy of Warsaw into the more traditionally Polish voivodeships, obwóds and powiats. Eight voivodeships were created:
On 7 March 1837 the voivodeships were reorganised as eight guberniyas :
In 1842 the Polish powiats were renamed to okręgs and the Polish obwóds were renamed powiats.

From 1844 to 1867

In 1844 several governorates were merged with others, and some others renamed. Five governorates remained:
GovernorateName in RussianName in PolishSeat
Warsaw GovernorateВаршавская губернияGubernia warszawskaWarsaw
Augustów GovernorateАвгустовская губернияGubernia augustowskaSuwałki
Lublin GovernorateЛюблинская губернияGubernia lubelskaLublin
Płock GovernorateПлоцкая губернияGubernia płockaPłock
Radom GovernorateРадомская губернияGubernia radomskaRadom

From 1867 to 1893

The 1867 reform, initiated after the failure of the January Uprising, was designed to tie Congress Poland more tightly to the administration structure of the Russian Empire. It divided larger governorates into smaller ones. A new lower level entity, gmina, was introduced. This time ten governorates were formed:
GovernorateName in RussianName in PolishSeat
Warsaw GovernorateВаршавская губернияGubernia warszawskaWarszawa
Kalisz GovernorateКалишская губернияGubernia kaliskaKalisz
Kielce GovernorateКелецкая губернияGubernia kieleckaKielce
Łomża GovernorateЛомжинская губернияGubernia łomżyńskaŁomża
Lublin GovernorateЛюблинская губернияGubernia lubelskaLublin
Piotrków GovernorateПетроковская губернияGubernia piotrkowskaPiotrków
Płock GovernorateПлоцкая губернияGubernia płockaPłock
Radom GovernorateРадомская губернияGubernia radomskaRadom
Siedlce GovernorateСедлецкая губернияGubernia siedleckaSiedlce
Suwalki GovernorateСувалкская губернияGubernia suwalskaSuwałki

From 1893 to 1912

A minor reform of 1893 transferred some territory from the Plotsk and Lomzha Governorates to the Warsaw Governorate.
GovernorateName in RussianName in PolishSeatArea,
in thousands of km2		Population,
in thousands,
Warsaw GovernorateВаршавская губернияGubernia warszawskaWarszawa17,62233
Kalisz GovernorateКалишская губернияGubernia kaliskaKalisz11,3964
Kielce GovernorateКелецкая губернияGubernia kieleckaKielce10,2899
Łomża GovernorateЛомжинская губернияGubernia łomżyńskaŁomża10,6645
Lublin GovernorateЛюблинская губернияGubernia lubelskaLublin16,91341
Piotrków GovernorateПетроковская губернияGubernia piotrkowskaPiotrków12,21640
Płock GovernorateПлоцкая губернияGubernia płockaPłock9,4613
Radom GovernorateРадомская губернияGubernia radomskaRadom12,4917
Siedlce GovernorateСедлецкая губернияGubernia siedleckaSiedlce14,3894
Suwalki GovernorateСувалкская губернияGubernia suwalskaSuwałki12,4629

From 1912 to 1919

The 1912 reform created a new governorate – Kholm Governorate – from parts of the Sedlets and Lublin Governorates. However this was split off from the Vistulan Country and made part of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire.