Smolensk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It existed, with interruptions, between 1708 and 1929.

Smolensk Governorate, together with seven other governorates, was established on , 1708, by an edict from Tsar Peter the Great.Указ об учреждении губерний и о росписании к ним городов As with the rest of the governorates, neither the borders nor internal subdivisions of Smolensk Governorate were defined; instead, the territory was defined as a set of cities, and section of lands adjacent to those cities.

History On , 1713, Smolensk Governorate was abolished and its territory was divided between Moscow and Riga Governorates. Smolensk Province was created as a result. The governorate was re-established in 1726, and Smolensk Province was re-incorporated into the Governorate. In 1775, it was included, along with parts of Moscow and Belgorod Governorates, into Smolensk Viceroyalty. The governorate was again restored in 1796.

After the October Revolution, Smolensk Governorate was base of independent Western Oblast/Western Commune, Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus, Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel), and finally incorporated into the Russian SFSR.

Eventually, on January 14, 1929, Smolensk Governorate was abolished and its territory was incorporated into Western Oblast.

Subdivisions Smolensk Governorate, together with seven other governorates, was established on , 1708, by Tsar Peter the Great's edict. As with the rest of the governorates, neither the borders nor internal subdivisions of Smolensk Governorate were defined; instead, the territory was defined as a set of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities.

At the time of establishment, the following thirty cities were included into Smolensk Governorate, + Cities included into Smolensk Governorate at the time of its establishment # City # City # City1.Smolensk7.Meshchevsk13.Serpeysk2.Belyaya8.Mosalsk14.Staritsa3.Borisovo Gorodishche9.Odoyev15.Vorotynsk4.Dorogobuzh10.Peremyshl16.Vyazma5.Kozelsk11.Pogoreloye Gorodishche17.Zubtsov6.Likhvin12.Roslavl

In 1713, when Smolensk Governorate was abolished and merged into Riga Governorate, the following five uyezds were established in the area formally occupied by the governorate (the administrative centers are given in parentheses), Belsky Uyezd (Bely); Dorogobuzhsky Uyezd (Dorogobuzh); Roslavlsky Uyezd (Roslavl); Smolensky Uyezd (Smolensk); Vyazemsky Uyezd (Vyazma). After Smolensk Governorate was re-established in 1726, it was subdivided into these five uyezds.

In 1775, Smolensk Viceroyalty was subdivided into 12 uyezds, which remained when it was transformed back to a governorate in 1802 (the administrative centers, which all had the town status, are in parentheses), Belsky Uyezd (Bely); Dorogobuzhsky Uyezd (Dorogobuzh); Dukhovshchinsky Uyezd (Dukhovshchina); Gzhatsky Uyezd (Gzhatsk); Krasninsky Uyezd (Krasny); Porechsky Uyezd (Porechye); Roslavlsky Uyezd (Roslavl); Smolensky Uyezd (Smolensk); Sychyovsky Uyezd (Sychyovka); Vyazemsky Uyezd (Vyazma); Yelninsky Uyezd (Yelnya); Yukhnovsky Uyezd (Yukhnov).

Demography

Language Population by mother tongue according to the Imperial census of 1897.

+ Language Number percentage (%) males females Russian 1,397,875 91.6 655,460 742,415 Belarusian 100,757 6.6 48,663 52,094 Jewish 10,903 0.7 6,049 4,854 Polish 7,314 0.5 4,855 2,459 Latvian 3,485 0.2 1,770 1,715 German 1,727 0.1 879 848 Ukrainian 1,374 0.0 1,247 127 Gypsy 661 0.0 338 323 Estonian 301 0.0 158 143 Tatar 291 0.0 281 10 Lithuanian 255 0.0 226 29 Other 336 0.0 190 146 Total 1,525,279 100.0 720,116 805,163 +

Religion According to the Imperial census of 1897.Religion Statistics of 1897

+ Religion Number percentage (%) males females Pravoslavs 1,480,110 97.0 696,506 783,604 Old Believers and others split from Pravoslavs 20,728 1.4 9,164 11,564 Judaism 11,144 0.7 6,186 4,958 Roman Catholic 8,487 0.6 5,631 2,856 Lutherans 4,303 0.3 2,218 2,085 Islam 294 0.0 283 11 Reformed 83 0.0 50 33 Karaites 41 0.0 25 16 Armenian Gregorians 11 0.0 7 4 Anglicans 9 0.0 3 6 Armenian Catholic Church 3 0.0 1 2 Mennonites 2 0.0 1 1 Other: Christian denominations 50 0.0 30 20 Other: non-Christians 6 0.0 6 0 Total 1,525,279 100.0 720,116 805,163 +

Notes

References

Further reading Голубовский П. В. (1895) История Смоленской земли до начала XV столетия (History of the Smolensk land prior to the beginning of the 15th century)