Governorate (Russia)

[citation needed] Selected governorates were united under an assigned governor-general such as the Grand Duchy of Finland, Congress Poland, Russian Turkestan and others.

[citation needed] This subdivision type was created by the edict (ukase) of Peter the Great on December 18, 1708 "On the establishment of the gubernias and cities assigned to them", which divided Russia into eight governorates.

The October Revolution left the subdivision in place, but the governing apparatus was replaced by governorate soviets (губернский совет).

Oblast as a unit was used even before the revolution, although unlike governorates it designated remote areas that usually incorporated huge swaths of land.

In post-Soviet states such as Russia and Ukraine, the term Guberniya is considered obsolete, yet the word gubernator was reinstated and is used when referring to a governor of an oblast or a krai.

The Russian Empire had nine governorates in modern-day Ukrainian territories: Chernigov, Kharkov, Kherson, Kiev, Podolia, Poltava, Volhynia, Yekaterinoslav, and Taurida.