Novorossiya Governorate
Governorate of the Russian Empire
Novorossiya Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1764–1783 and again in 1796–1802. It was created soon after the establishment of the Ukrainian fortification line. The governorate was governed according to the "Plan for the Colonization of New Russia Governorate" issued by the Russian Senate. It became the first region in Russia where Catherine the Great allowed foreign Jews to settle.
Most of its territories belonged to the Zaporozhian Sich as well as the Poltava Regiment and Myrhorod Regiment of the Cossack Hetmanate. Its establishment was strategically successful and advantageous for Russia, and after the conclusion of the Russian war against Turkey in 1774 it gave a way for Russia to access the Black Sea and establish an area that became known as Novorossiya ("New Russia"). It was created based on the Military Frontier of the Austrian Empire against the Ottoman Empire and involved many military units from the region that were resettled in Ukraine. The military units included mounted cossacks (or hussars) and mounted pikers (or lancers).
In 1796, the governorate was reestablished, but with the centre not in Kremenchug but in Yekaterinoslav, and in 1802 was split into three governorates: the Yekaterinoslav Governorate, the Taurida Governorate, the Nikolayev Governorate (known as the Kherson Governorate from 1803).
History
It was created on 2 April [O.S. 22 March] 1764 as a military district for the protection of the southern border of the empire and in preparation for the major military campaign of the Russo-Turkish War.
The public source identifies “Novorossiya Governorate” as governorate of the Russian Empire. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Novorossiya, Governorate and Russian.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q326191. VIAF identifies the subject as 294553817. Authority coordinates are 48.400, 35.000. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1764, 1783, 1796 and 1802.
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This entry incorporates text from “Novorossiya Governorate” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.