The Vilnа Governorate (1801-1840 often named Lithuania-Vilna Governorate) (Виленская губерния, Vilenskaya guberniya, Vilniaus gubernija) or Government of Vilna was a governorate (guberniya) of the Russian Empire created after the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. It was attached to the Northwestern Krai. The seat was in Vilna (Vilnius).

Name and territorial changes

The first governorates, Vilna Governorate (consisting of eleven uyezds or districts) and Slonim Governorate, were established after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Just a year later, on December 12 1796, by order of Tsar Paul I they were merged into one governorate, called Lithuania Governorate, with its capital in Vilnius. By order of Tsar Alexander I on September 9 1801 Lithuania Governorate was split into the Lithuania-Vilna Governorate and the Lithuania-Grodno Governorate. After thirty nine years, the word "Lithuania" was dropped from the two names by Nicholas I. In 1843 another administrative reform took place, creating Kovno Governorate out of seven western districts of the Vilna Governorate, including all of Samogitia. Vilna Governorate received three additional districts: Vileyka and Dzisna from Minsk Governorate and Lida from Grodno Governorate. This arrangement remained unchanged until World War I. A part of it was then included in the Wilna Administrative Area of Ober-Ost, formed by the occupying German Empire.

In 1834 the governorate had about 789,000 inhabitants; in 1897 the number grew to about 1,591,000.

Subdivisions

Uyezds in 1795	Uyezds in 1843
Ashmiany
Braslaw (since 1835 Novoaleksandrovsk (Zarasai))	To Kovno Governorate
From Minsk Governorate	Dzisna
Kovno (Kaunas)	To Kovno Governorate
From Grodno Governorate	Lida
Raseiniai	To Kovno Governorate
Šiauliai	To Kovno Governorate
Švenčionys
Telšiai	To Kovno Governorate
Trakai
Ukmergė	To Kovno Governorate
Upytė (since 1843 Panevėžys)	To Kovno Governorate
From Minsk Governorate	Vileyka
Vilna (Vilnius)

Ethnic composition

Russian authorities periodically performed censuses. However, they reported strikingly different numbers:

Year	Total	Lithuanians		Poles		Belarusians		Russians		Jews		Other
1862	838,464	418,880	50%	154,386	18%	146,431	17%	14,950	2%	76,802	9%	27,035	3%
1865	891,715	210,273	24%	154,386	17%	418,289	47%	27,845	3%	76,802	9%	4,120	0%
1883	1,192,000	417,200	35%	281,312	24%	239,592	20%		-	176,416	15%	77,480	7%
1897	1,561,713	274,414	18%	126,770	8%	880,940	56%	75,803	5%	197,929	13%	5,857	0%
1909	1,550,057	231,848	15%	188,931	12%	570,351	37%	408,817	26%	146,066	9%	4,094	0%

See also

• Ethnic history of the Vilnius region
• History of Vilnius
• Poland’s Wilno Voivodeship
• Byelorussia’s Vileyka Voblast

References