Orenburg Governorate

Orenburg Governorate (Russian: Оренбургская губерния, romanized: Orenburgskaya guberniya) was an administrative-territorial unit (Governorate) of the Russian Empire. Its capital in 1797–1802 and 1865–1928 was Orenburg, and Ufa in 1802–1865.

Orenburg Governorate Оренбургская губерния (Russian)
Governorate of the Russian Empire (1744–1917), Russian Republic, and RSFSR (1917–1928)
1744–1928
Coat of arms
Location in the Russian Empire
Capital	Orenburg (1797-1802; 1865-1928) Ufa (1802–1865)
Area
•	189,727.4 km2 (73,254.2 sq mi)
Population
• (1897)	1,600,145
History
• Established	15 March 1744
• Disestablished	14 May 1928
Preceded by Succeeded by Ufa Viceroyalty Ufa Governorate Orenburg Krai Middle Volga Oblast

The governorate was created in 1744 from the lands annexed from Siberian and Astrakhan Governorates. In 1782, the governorate, along with Chelyabinsky Uyezd of Perm Viceroyalty were transformed into Ufa Viceroyalty, which was divided into Ufa and Orenburg Oblasts. In 1796, Ufa Viceroyalty was renamed Orenburg Governorate, and in 1865 it was split in two—a smaller Orenburg Governorate, and Ufa Governorate.

In 1919, Chelyabinsk Governorate was split off from Orenburg Governorate, and in 1928 the governorate was merged into a newly created Middle Volga Oblast.

Administrative division

After the creation of Ufa Governorate in 1865, Orenburg Governorate consisted of the following uyezds (administrative centres in parentheses):

• Verkhneuralsky Uyezd (Verkhneuralsk)
• Orenburgsky Uyezd (Orenburg)
• Orsky Uyezd (Orsk)
• Troitsky Uyezd (Troitsk)
• Chelyabinsky Uyezd (Chelyabinsk)

Notable people

• Nikolay Anisimov (1877–1931), major general of the White Army
• Gury Marchuk, (1925–2013) Soviet scientist
• Maurice Tillet, (1903–1954) Russian-French professional wrestler