Chernigov Governorate

Chernigov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Little Russia Governorate and had its capital in Chernigov.

Its borders encompassed the modern Chernihiv Oblast, but also included a large section of Sumy Oblast and smaller sections of the Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine, in addition to a large part of Bryansk Oblast of Russia.

From 1918 to 1925, it was referred to as Chernihiv Governorate as part of Ukrainian successor states of the Russian Empire during and after the civil war, namely of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian SSR.

When part of the Russian Empire, the governorate consisted of 15 uyezds (their administrative centres in brackets):

Of these, 11 were in territory inhabited by Ukrainians: Borzna, Hlukhiv, Horodnia, Kozelets, Konotop, Krolovets, Nizhyn, Novhorod-Siverksyi, Oster, Sosnytsia, and Chernihiv.

Chernigov Governorate covered a total area of 52,396 km², and had a population of 2,298,000, according to the 1897 Russian Empire census. In 1914, the population was 2,340,000. In 1918 it became part of Ukraine and transformed into Chernihiv Governorate.

As part of the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian SSR, the governorate consisted of 18 counties (povits):

In 1919, the northern Mhlyn, Novozybkiv, Starodub, and Surazh counties, with their mixed Ukrainian–Belarusian–Russian population, were transferred from Ukraine to the newly established Gomel Governorate of the Russian republic.