Tiflis Governorate


Tiflis Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Caucasus Viceroyalty 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. The governorate used to border Elisabethpol Governorate, Erivan Governorate, Kutais Governorate, Zakatal Okrug, Dagestan Oblast, Terek Oblast, and Kars Oblast. It covered present southeastern Georgia, northern Armenia and northwestern Azerbaijan.
Tiflis Governorate was established in 1846 along with the Kutais Governorate, after the dissolution of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. It was initially formed from uyezds of Tiflis, Gori, Telavi, Signakh, Yelizavetpol, Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol and okrugs of Zakatal, Ossetian and Tushino-pshaw-Khevsurian. In 1849, uyezds of Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol were attached to Erivan Governorate. In 1859 Ossetian okrug became part of Gori district and Tushino-pshaw-Khevsurian okrug was renamed to Tionets. In 1867, the northern part of Tiflis uyezd was separated as Dusheti one, while Akhaltsikhe uyezd which was created after ceding from Ottoman Empire to Russian Empire in 1829, was detached from Kutaisi Governorate and part of Tiflis one. In 1868 Yelizavetpol uyezd was part of Elisabethpol Governorate. In 1874, the southern part of Akhaltsikhe uyezd was to become Akhalkalaki one and Tionets okrug was elevated as uyezd. Finally southern part of Tiflis Uyezd was to become Borchali Uyezd. The governorate lasted in these boundaries for 50 years, until the Democratic Republic of Georgia was founded.

Administrative divisions

Tiflis Governorate consisted of the following uyezds:
As of 1897, 1,051,032 lived in the governorate, with around 20% of them being urban. Ethnic Georgians constituted 44.3% of the population, followed by Armenians, Azeris, Russians, Ossetians, Avars, Greeks, Turks, etc. More than half of the population adhered to Eastern Orthodox Christianity with significant Muslim, Catholic and Jewish minorities.

Ethnic groups in 1897http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=521

Governors

The administration tasks in the governorate were executed by a governor. Sometimes, a military governor was appointed as well. The governors of Tiflis Governorate were