History of the administrative division of Russia
| History of the administrative division of Russia |
|---|
| 1708–1710 |
| 1710–1713 |
| 1713–1714 |
| 1714–1717 |
| 1717–1719 |
| 1719–1725 |
| 1725–1726 |
| 1726–1727 |
| 1727–1728 |
| 1728–1744 |
| 1744–1764 |
This article covers the history of the administrative divisions of Russia.
Early history
The Kievan Rus' as it formed in the 10th century remained a more or less unified realm under the rule of Yaroslav I (d. 1054), but in the later part of the 11th century, it disintegrated into a number of de facto independent and rivalling principalities, the most important of which were Galicia–Volhynia, Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal. These principalities were gradually integrated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow during the 14th and 15th centuries, at the time a vassal state of the Turco-Mongol Ulus of Jochi. After 1480, Ivan III began to style himself Tsar. Ivan IV was the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All Russia in 1547.
From the 13th century, the Russian principalities used an administrative subdivision into uyezds, each uyezd being subdivided into several volosts. Voyevodas were officials appointed to administrate and defend an uyezd.
Tsardom
Prior to the administrative division reform of 1708, the territory of Russia was subdivided into uyezds (districts, from Russian уезд) and volosts (small rural districts, from Russian волость). In 1708, in order to improve the manageability of the vast territory of the Russian Empire, Tsar Peter the Great issued an ukase (edict) dividing Russia into eight administrative divisions, called governorates (guberniyas).
The reform of 1708 did not set the borders of the governorates. Instead, the governorates were defined as the sets of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities. Some older subdivision types also continued to be used. Between 1710 and 1713, all governorates were subdivided into (Russian: доли). In 1719, Peter enacted another administrative reform to fix the deficiencies of the original system, as the governorates were too big and unmanageable. This reform abolished the system of lots, dividing most of the governorates into provinces (провинции), which were further divided into districts (дистрикты).
During this time, territories were frequently reshuffled between the governorates, and new governorates were added to accommodate population growth and territorial expansion. These changes are summarized by the following table:
Empire
In 1727, soon after Peter I's death, Catherine I enacted another reform, which cancelled a lot of previous reform's developments. The system of districts was abolished, and the old system of uyezds was restored. A total of 166 uyezds was re-established; together with the newly created uyezds, the Russian Empire had approximately 250.
The reform also reshuffled some territories. was transferred from St. Petersburg Governorate to Revel Governorate; Solikamsk and Vyatka provinces were transferred from Siberian Governorate to Kazan Governorate; and and provinces were transferred from Saint Petersburg Governorate to Moscow Governorate. In addition, the Belgorod, Oryol, and Sevsk provinces of Kiev Governorate were reconstituted as ; and Belozersk, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, and Velikiye Luki provinces of St. Petersburg Governorate were reconstituted as Novgorod Governorate.
The following years saw few changes. In 1728, was transferred from Kazan Governorate to Siberian Governorate, and in 1737, was created within Kazan Governorate.
After the abolition of Russian serfdom in 1861, volost became a unit of peasant's local self-rule. A number of mirs were united into a volost, which had an assembly consisting of elected delegates from the mirs. The self-government of the mirs and volosts was tempered by the authority of the police commissaries (stanovoi) and by the power of general oversight given to the nominated "district committees for the affairs of the peasants".
Soviet Republic
The Russian SFSR comprised 16 autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, 10 autonomous okrugs, six krais, and 40 oblasts.
Uyezds and volosts were abolished by the Soviet administrative reform of 1923–1929. Raions may be roughly called a modern equivalent of the uyezds, and selsoviets may be considered a modern equivalent of the volosts.
Russian Federation
The subdivision type of Federal District was created in May 2000 by Vladimir Putin as a part of a wider program designed to reassert federal authority. The original division was into seven federal districts, but in 2010 the North Caucasian Federal District was split off the Southern Federal District.
External links
- (Russian) "Administrative territorial division of Russia in the 18th-20th centuries" («Административно-территориальное деление России XVIII—XX веков») "Otechestvennye Zapiski", No.6, 2002.
- (Russian) Тархов, Сергей, "Изменение административно-территориального деления России в XIII-XX в." (pdf), Логос, #1 2005 (46), ISSN 0869-5377
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_administrative_division_of_Russia#Empire
