It was inherited from the Russian system of territorial subdivisions that existed prior to World War I.

It included the territory of the left-bank Ukraine and was officially created in 1802 from Malorossiya Governorate with its capital in Chernigov (Chernihiv).

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.

[2] 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.

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.