Geographical position The Astrakhan Governorate was located in the southeast of the European part of the
Russian Empire, between 45° and 51° north latitude and 43° and 51° east longitude. The greatest length of the governorate from north to south is up to , and the greatest width from west to east was .
Location of the Governorate concerning modern administrative boundaries On the territory of the former Astrakhan Governorate (within the borders of 1914), currently, the
Astrakhan Oblast and the
Republic of Kalmykia, are completely located, partly the
Volgograd Oblast, the
Stavropol Krai, the
Rostov Oblast, and the
Republic of Dagestan; part of the Governorate became part of
Kazakh–Guryev Oblast. The northeastern part of the former
Astrakhansky uyezd is located on the territory of the modern
Astrakhan Oblast; in addition, the southern part of the Republic of Kalmykia is located on the territory of the uyezd, a small western part of the uyezd is located on the territory of the Rostov Oblast, a small southern part of the uyezd is located on the territory of the Stavropol Krai, and the Republic of Dagestan. The former
Krasnoyarsky uyezd is mostly located in the territory of the modern Astrakhan Oblast; its small northern part is located in the territory of Kazakhstan; the northeastern part of the former
Yenotayevsky uyezd is located in the territory of the modern Astrakhan Oblast, the southwestern part constitutes the northern part of the Republic of Kalmykia, and the extreme western part is on the territory of the Rostov Oblast. The northeastern part of the former
Chernoyarsky uyezd is located on the territory of the modern Astrakhan Oblast; the northern and northwestern parts are on the territory of the Volgograd Oblast, and the southern part of the uyezd is now on the northern part of the Republic of Kalmykia. The former Tsarevsky uyezd belongs to the modern Astrakhan Oblast in a small southern part, the rest of it with the city (now the
selo) of
Tsarev is located on the territory of the Volgograd Oblast, and the former
Kyrgyz steppe is located on the territory of modern
Kazakhstan.
Area The area of the governorate in 1886, when according to the data of the governorate land surveying department, was The area of all five uyezds, including the water surface, was , and the
Kalmyk Steppe was and the
Inner Bukey Horde was . According to other data (
I. A. Strelbitsky; 1874), the area of the Astrakhan governorate was , including the surface of lakes, the of
Volga Delta. This territory includes the area from the city of
Tsaritsyn to the
Caspian Sea, between the
Volga, and
Akhtuba rivers, and islands along the sea coast. In terms of area, the governorate occupied the fourth largest place among other governorates of the European part of the Russian Empire.
Relief The territory of the governorate, as in our period, was vast, devoid of forest vegetation, sandy-clayed, and solonetsous
steppe, which has a blanket-shaped slope to the southeast and is a part of the
Caspian Depression, which was previously the seabed. The southern part of the governorate was washed by waters of the
Caspian Sea for . ==Demographics==