Little Russia gubernia

Little Russia gubernia. An administrative territory of the Russian Empire. It was initially set up in 1765 after the dissolution of the Hetman state, with its center in Hlukhiv. In 1773 the gubernial center was moved to Kozelets and in 1775 to Kyiv. In 1781 the original Little Russia gubernia was dissolved and reorganized into the Novhorod-Siverskyi vicegerency and Chernihiv vicegerency, while a part of its territory was joined with the Kyiv vicegerency.

The Little Russia gubernia was restored in 1796. It consisted of the former Kyiv vicegerency (except for the city itself and its region on the right bank of the Dnipro River), Novhorod-Siverskyi vicegerency, and Chernihiv vicegerency as well as the town of Kremenchuk and the former Poltava regiment and Myrhorod regiment. The capital of the gubernia was Chernihiv. The court system of the Hetman state, including the General Military Court, the estate land courts, and the pidkomorskyi court, was restored in the gubernia. In 1802 Little Russia gubernia was divided into Chernihiv gubernia and Poltava gubernia.

[This article was updated in 2010.]