Major events

The second administrative reform of 1719 was carried out by Peter the Great

Peter I of Russia

Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...

 in order to fix the deficiencies of the original system. On June 9 (May 29 in the Julian calendar

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...

), 1719 Peter issued an ukase

Ukase

A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...

 (edict) that abolished the division of the governorates

Guberniya

A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...

 into lots . Instead, most of the Governorates were divided into provinces (провинции), and provinces were further subdivided into districts (дистрикты). Provinces were governed by voyevodas. The idea of the subdivision of governorates into province was borrowed from the administrative division system of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and other Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries. Districts were introduced to replace the old system of subdivision into uyezd

Uyezd

Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...

s; however, the borders of the new districts did not match those of the old uyezds. The purpose of the districts was also different from that of the uyezds—population of each district was taxed to support military units assigned to it.

• June 9 (May 29), 1719—Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was re-established.
• June 9 (May 29), 1719—Revel Governorate was formed on the newly acquired Baltic lands.

Subdivisions (as of 1724)

• Archangelgorod Governorate
  Archangelgorod Governorate
  Archangelgorod Governorate , or the Government of Archangelgorod, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1708 until 1780. Its seat was in Archangel...
  
  (Архангелогородская губерния)
  • subdivided into 4 provinces:
    • Archangelgorod Province (Архангелогородская провинция)
    • Galich Province (Галичская провинция)
    • Ustyug Province (Устюжская провинция)
    • Vologda Province (Вологодская провинция)
• Astrakhan Governorate (Астраханская губерния)
  • not subdivided
• Azov Governorate (Азовская губерния)
  • subdivided into 5 provinces:
    • Bakhmut Province (Бахмутская провинция)
    • Shatsk Province (Шацкая провинция)
    • Tambov Province (Тамбовская провинция)
    • Voronezh Province (Воронежская провинция)
    • Yeletsk Province (Елецкая провинция)
• Kazan Governorate
  Kazan Governorate
  The Kazan Governorate or Government of Kazan was a governorate of Imperial Russia from 1708–1920, with the city of Kazan as its capital.-History:...
  
  (Казанская губерния)
  • subdivided into 4 provinces:
    • Kazan Province (Казанская провинция)
    • Penza Province (Пензенская провинция)
    • Sviyaga Province (Свияжская провинция)
    • Ufa Province (Уфимская провинция)
• Kiev Governorate
  Kiev Governorate
  Kiev Governorate , or Government of Kiev, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire.The governorate was established in 1708 along with seven other governorates and was transformed into a viceroyalty in 1781...
  
  (Киевская губерния)
  • subdivided into 4 provinces:
    • Belgorod Province (Белгородская провинция)
    • Kiev Province (Киевская провинция)
    • Oryol Province (Орловская провинция)
    • Sevsk Province (Севская провинция)
• Moscow Governorate
  Moscow Governorate
  Moscow Governorate , or Government of Moscow, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1708–1929....
  
  (Московская губерния)
  • subdivided into 9 provinces:
    • Kaluga Province (Калужская провинция)
    • Kostroma Province (Костромская провинция)
    • Moscow Province (Московская провинция)
    • Pereyaslavl-Ryazan Province (Переяславль-Рязанская провинция)
    • Pereyaslavl-Zalessk Province (Переяславско-Залесская провинция)
    • Suzdal Province (Суздальская провинция)
    • Tula Province (Тульская провинция)
    • Vladimir Province (Владимирская провинция)
    • Yuryevo-Polsk Province (Юрьево-Польская провинция)
• Nizhny Novgorod Governorate (Нижегородская губерния)
  • subdivided into 3 provinces:
    • Alatyr Province (Алатырская провинция)
    • Arzamas Province (Арзамасская провинция)
    • Nizhny Novgorod Province (Нижегородская провинция)
• Revel Governorate (Ревельская губерния)
  • not subdivided
• Riga Governorate
  Riga Governorate
  The Governorate of Livonia or Livland Governorate, also known as the Government of Livonia or Province of Livonia, was one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, now divided between the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Estonia.It was originally called the Riga Governorate after...
  
  (Рижская губерния)
  • subdivided into 2 provinces:
    • Riga Province (Рижская провинция)
    • Smolensk Province (Смоленская провинция)
• St. Petersburg Governorate
  Saint Petersburg Governorate
  Saint Petersburg Governorate , or Government of Saint Petersburg, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1708–1927....
  
  (Санкт-Петербургская губерния)
  • subdivided into 11 provinces:
    • Belozersk Province (Белозерская провинция)
    • Narva Province (Нарвская провинция)
    • Novgorod Province (Новгородская провинция)
    • Petersburg Province (Петербургская провинция)
    • Poshekhonye Province (Пошехонская провинция)
    • Pskov Province (Псковская провинция)
    • Tver Province (Тверская провинция)
    • Uglich Province (Угличская провинция)
    • Velikiye Luki Province (Великолуцкая провинция)
    • Vyborg Province (Выборгская провинция)
    • Yaroslavl Province (Ярославская провинция)
• Siberian Governorate (Сибирская губерния)
  • subdivided into 5 provinces:
    • Irkutsk Province (Иркутская провинция)
    • Sol-Kamsk Province (Соль-Камская провинция)
    • Tobolsk Province (Тобольская провинция)
    • Vyatka Province (Вятская провинция)
    • Yenisei Province (Енисейская провинция)