kilometеrs,[1] roughly corresponding to what is now most of central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of Turkey, and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan.

In 1828, the khanates of Erivan and the Nakhichevan were annexed from Persia by the Russian Empire through the Treaty of Turkmenchay.

The newly annexed territories were incorporated into a single administrative unit known as the Armenian Oblast.

[2] By decree of Tsar Nicholas I on April 10, 1840, Transcaucasia was divided into two administrative units: The Georgia-Imeretia Governorate and the Caspian Oblast.

[3] Besides Erivan, other important cities included Alexandropol (Gyumri), Nakhichevan (Nakhchivan), Novobayazet (Gavar), Ordubad, and Vagarshapat (Vagharshapat).

Between 1880 and 1890, the cities of the Erivan Governorate experienced rapid growth as they became interconnected with the neighboring provincial capitals of Tiflis (Tbilisi), Kutais (Kutaisi), Yelisavetpol (Ganja), and Baku.

Highways of state significance were also improved, thus the trade between cities became increasingly active, the crafts developed again, and the first industry began in the province.

(see also: History of Yerevan) The Armenian secular elite, together with the Russian authorities, started a new phase of development in Erivan, transforming it from a Persian frontier town to a provincial capital.

In 1879, by decree of the Tsar, the position of mayor of Erivan was established, wherein Hovhannes Ghorghanyan was appointed.

Through the efforts of Ghorghanyan and the city elite, under the auspices of the Russian Empire, in 1881 the Erivan Teachers' Seminary was opened (now a Yerevan State University building).

At the end of the 19th century, Yerevan continued to be an eastern town with its narrow, crooked streets, houses built of clay and small stones, markets and baths, churches and mosques.

The 1886 Transcaucasian census indicated that the Erivan Governorate now had 78,672 households, totalling 670,400 inhabitants—this indicated that the province had doubled in population since the 1856 survey due to the land reform, sanitation, and medical care which had advanced under the Russian administration.

[14] In the year 1907, the Erivan Governorate, which had a population of 426,011 men and 382,631 women totalling 808,642 inhabitants, consisted of 1,295 villages.

The ethnic makeup of rural households was the following:[15] According to the Russian Empire census, the Erivan Governorate had a population of 829,556 on 28 January [O.S.

[10] The urban population of the governorate was 92,323, the largest settlements including Alexandropol (30,616), Erivan (29,006), Nakhichevan (8,790), and Nor Bayazet (8,486).