Olonets Governorate[a] was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, extending from Lake Ladoga almost to the White Sea, bounded west by Finland, north and east by Arkhangelsk and Vologda, and south by Novgorod and Saint Petersburg.

[1] Its north-western portion belonged orographically and geologically to the Finland region; it is thickly dotted with hills reaching 1,000 ft. in altitude, and diversified by numberless smaller ridges and hollows running from northwest to south-east.

The entire region bears traces of glaciation, either in the shape of scratchings and elongated grooves on the rocks, or of eskers (asar, selgas) running parallel to the glacial striations.

Lakes Zeg, Vygozero, Lacha, Loksha, Tulos, and Vodlozero cover from 140 to 480 m2 each, and their crustacean fauna indicates a former connection with the Arctic Ocean.

[1] Sixty-three percent of the area of Olonets was occupied by forests; those of the Crown, maintained for shipbuilding purposes, extended to more than 800,000 acres (3,000 km2).

Rye and oats were the principal crops, and some flax, barley, and turnips were grown, but the total cultivated area did not exceed 2 1/2% of the whole governorate.