Sloboda Ukraine Governorate (1765–1780) After the
abolition of the Cossack system in Sloboda Ukraine,
Sloboda Ukraine Governorate was set up in 1765 on the former territory of the Sloboda Cossack regiments, with its capital in
Kharkiv (historically known as Kharkov). The dissolved regiments were
Kharkiv Regiment,
Sumy Regiment,
Okhtyrka Regiment,
Izium Regiment, and
Ostrogozhsk Regiment.
Kharkov Viceroyalty (1780–1796) In 1780, Sloboda Ukraine Governorate was dissolved and reorganized into the
Kharkov Viceroyalty As part of this reform, the Kharkov Viceroyalty was abolished in 1797, and the Sloboda Ukraine Governorate was re-established. It contained the former Kharkov Viceroyalty's territory, as well as several
uyezds from
Voronezh Governorate. In the same year, the Kharkov Governorate was incorporated to the
Little Russian Governor-General. The Governor-residence General was originally in Poltava but has been in
Kharkov since 1837. By 1856, the governorate had grown to 13 counties, and the final administrative division had been established. Kharkov was the seat of the Orthodox
Kharkov Diocese and the
Kharkov Educational District, as well as the judicial authority for the governorates of Kharkov, Kursk, Voronezh, Oryol, Yekaterinoslav, and Tambov, and the
Kharkov Military District administration from 1864 to 1888. The governorate's territory was excluded from the
Pale of Settlement. Nevertheless, Jews were permitted to visit Kharkov during the fairs. The newspaper
Kharkovskie Gubernskie Vedomosti was first published in 1838. The
Zemstvo was founded as part of the Zemstvo reform. On , the terrorist
Grigory Goldenberg assassinated Governor
D. N. Kropotkin. General
M. T. Loris-Melikov was appointed temporary governor-general of the Kharkov Governorate on April 7, 1879, and commanding officer of the Kharkov Military District on April 17, the same year.
Kharkiv Governorate (1918–1925) Kharkiv Governorate () was a governorate of Ukraine from 1918 to 1925. The region was re-established in 1918 as the Kharkov Governorate plus southern regions of
Kursk Governorate and
Voronezh Governorate. The governorate had international borders with the
Don Republic to the east and the
Soviet Russia to the north. During occupation by the
Volunteer Army in 1919–1920, it was transformed into the Kharkov Oblast and expanded including several governorates. According to
Soviet historians, in 1920–1921, 57
anti-Bolshevik insurgent detachments operated on the territory of the governorate, the number of some of them reaching several hundreds. The Izyumsky and Starobelsky uezds of Kharkov Governorate were transferred to the newly established
Donetsk Governorate in 1920.
Zmiev uezd was split into Zmiev and
Chuguevsky uezds in December 1919. The government of the
Ukrainian SSR adopted a new system of administrative division of the republic's territory on March 7, 1923, by Decree of the Presidium of the
All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee No. 315 of March 7, 1923. Okrugs and raions replaced uyezds and volosts. Instead of 10 uezds, the governorate was divided into 5 okrugs, as well as 227 volosts divided into 77 raions. Kharkov Governorate was divided into okrugs, according to the new administrative-territorial division system,
Raion–
Okrug–
Governorate–Capital:
Kharkov (24 raions),
Bogodukhovsky (12 raions),
Izyumsky (11 raions),
Kupyansky (12 raions), and
Sumy (16 raions). In 1924, it had a population of 2,728,400, of whom 20% lived in cities, of whom in turn only 55% were
Ukrainians.
Kharkiv Oblast, which contains most of the territory of the former governorate, was formed in 1932. ==Demographics==