The Black Sea Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate was the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. In 1905, the population of the governorate was approximately 70,000 and its area was , making it the smallest Russian governorate by both measures. Черноморская губерния. (Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, vol. 4. 1907.) The governorate ceased to exist when the Black Sea Soviet Republic was established on its territory in the spring of 1918—later the governorate was incorporated into the Kuban-Black Sea Oblast of the Russian SFSR in March 1920.
Administrative divisions The districts (okrugs) of the Black Sea Governorate in 1917 were as follows: NameAdministrative centrePopulationArea1897191618971916Novorossiysky okrug ()Novorossiysk16,86951,65134,90875,021Sochinsky okrug ()Sochi1,39213,25413,51962,920Tuapsinsky okrug ()Tuapse1,35217,8179,05140,365
Demographics
Russian Empire Census According to the Russian Empire Census, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 57,478 on , including 34,776 men and 22,702 women. The plurality of the population indicated Russian to be their mother tongue, with significant Ukrainian, Armenian, and Greek speaking minorities. +Linguistic composition of the Black Sea Governorate in 1897Native languageNumber%Russian24,63542.86Ukrainian9,25216.10Armenian6,28510.93Greek5,96910.38Circassian1,9393.37Czech1,2902.24Jewish9901.72Georgian9671.68Romanian9231.61Estonian7911.38German7481.30Polish7311.27Belarusian6591.15Turkish6501.13Mingrelian3040.53Tatar2910.51Persian2100.37Imeretian1580.27Other6861.19TOTAL57,478100.00 +Religious composition of the Black Sea Governorate in 1897FaithMaleFemaleBothNumber%Eastern Orthodox26,08516,98043,06574.92Armenian Apostolic3,5062,6356,14110.68Muslim2,0721,0313,1035.40Roman Catholic1,4859442,4294.23Lutheran8355801,4152.46Judaism5674611,0281.79Old Believer5336890.15Armenian Catholic5824820.14Reformed701710.12Karaite186240.04Anglican4260.01Mennonite0220.00Baptist1010.00Other Christian denomination5050.01Other non-Christian denomination170170.03TOTAL34,77622,70257,478100.00 +Linguistic composition of urban settlements in the Black Sea Governorate in 1897Urban settlementRussianUkrainianGreekTOTALNumber%Number%Number%Novorossiysk10,86064.272,17712.889315.5116,897Tuapse82759.411168.3318913.581,392Sochi51337.9426919.90261.921,352TOTAL12,20062.112,56213.041,1465.8319,641
Kavkazskiy kalendar According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 178,306 on , including 104,488 men and 73,818 women, 108,893 of whom were the permanent population, and 69,413 were temporary residents: NationalityUrbanRuralTOTALNumber%Number%Number%Russians65,58279.2854,33956.85119,92167.26Other Europeans6,2467.5515,10715.8021,35311.98Armenians2,3472.8415,71216.4418,05910.13Georgians1,7502.124,3364.546,0863.41Asiatic Christians3,4074.121,9322.025,3392.99North Caucasians6720.813,4263.584,1042.30Jews1,7842.1690.011,7931.01Shia Muslims9221.116490.681,5710.88Sunni Muslims120.01560.06680.04Roma00.00120.01120.01TOTAL82,722100.0095,584100.00178,306100.00
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