Baku Governorate was one of the guberniya

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 ,...

s of the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

, with its centre in Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

. Area (1897): 34,4000 sq. verstas, population (1897): 789,659. The only foreign border of the governorate was Persia, in the south. Within the empire it bordered with Elisabethpol Governorate

Elisabethpol Governorate

Elisabethpol Governorate or Elizavetpol Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Elisabethpol . Its area was 44,136 sq. kilometres, and it had 878,415 inhabitants by 1897....

 and Dagestan Oblast.

The governorate was established in 1846 as Shemakha Governorate, in place of several military precincts. After the devastating 1859 Shamakhi earthquake

1859 Shamakhi earthquake

The 1859 Shamakhi earthquake was a tremor, that took place on December 2, 1859, in the Baku Governorate region of Azerbaijan . December 2, 1859 earthquake caused the shifting of the same-named government center to Baku....

 it was decided to transfter the capital of the Province from Shemakha to Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

. On July 12, 1859 the governorate's name was changed accordingly. The coat of arms of the governorate was instituted on July 5, 1878^{http://heraldry.hobby.ru/gub1/bkgub.html}. Initially Baku Governorate included Karabakh

Karabakh

The Karabakh horse , also known as Karabakh, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse. It is named after the geographic region where the horse was originally developed, Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus, an area that is de jure part of Azerbaijan but the highland part of which is currently...

 and Zangezur

Zangezur

Zangezur may refer to:* Syunik, alternative name of an Armenian geographic-historic region, nowadays one of the provinces of Armenia* Kapan, former name of a city in Armenia...

, which were separated in 1868 to create Elisabethpol Governorate

Elisabethpol Governorate

Elisabethpol Governorate or Elizavetpol Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Elisabethpol . Its area was 44,136 sq. kilometres, and it had 878,415 inhabitants by 1897....

.

The governorate was preserved until the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...

, when it was split into Baku Governorate and Lankaran General-Governorate.

Administrative division

Baku Governorate had six 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 (in 1868 Nukha and Shusha

Shusha

Shusha , also known as Shushi is a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...

 uyezds were attached to Elisabethpol Governorate

Elisabethpol Governorate

Elisabethpol Governorate or Elizavetpol Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Elisabethpol . Its area was 44,136 sq. kilometres, and it had 878,415 inhabitants by 1897....

):

• Baku
• Kuba (attached in 1860)
• Shemakha
• Geokchai
• Dzhevat
• Lenkoran

Demographics

As of 1897, 789,659 people populated the governorate, of them 55% were male. Azeris

Azerbaijani people

The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...

 (mostly Shiite) constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

, Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

, Lezgins

Lezgins

The Lezgians are an ethnic group living predominantly in southern Dagestan and northeastern Azerbaijan and who speak the Lezgian language.- Historical concept :While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred...

, Tats

Tats

Tats are an Iranian people, presently living within Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia ....

, Talysh

Talysh people

Talysh are an Iranian people indigenous to a region shared between Azerbaijan and Iran which spans the South Caucasus and the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea. They speak the Talysh language, one of the Northwestern Iranian languages...

 and Jews

Azerbaijani Jews

Azerbaijani Jews are Jews who live in Azerbaijan.-Distribution:...

.

Ethnic groups in 1897

Uyezd	Tatars Tatars Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...	Tats Tats Tats are an Iranian people, presently living within Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia ....	Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....	Armenians Armenians Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....	Laks Lak people (Dagestan) The Laks, self-designation Lak, are an indigenous people of Dagestan, speaking the Lak language. There are about 170,000 ethnic Laks.-History:An ancient polity on the Lak territory was the principality of Gumik...	Talysh people Talysh people Talysh are an Iranian people indigenous to a region shared between Azerbaijan and Iran which spans the South Caucasus and the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea. They speak the Talysh language, one of the Northwestern Iranian languages...	Lezgins Lezgins The Lezgians are an ethnic group living predominantly in southern Dagestan and northeastern Azerbaijan and who speak the Lezgian language.- Historical concept :While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred...	Germans Germans The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....	Persian Persian people The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...	Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...	Avars Caucasian Avars Avars or Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan, in which they are the predominant group. The Caucasian Avar language belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family ....
TOTAL	58,7%	10,8%	8,9%	6,3%	5,8%	4,2%	1,4%	...	...	...	...
Baku Baku Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...	34,7%	18,9%	24,0%	12,3%	...	...	...	1,8%	2,6%	1,1%	...
Geokchay Goychay (city) Goychay is a city and municipality in and the capital of the Goychay Rayon of Azerbaijan...	79,0%	3,4%	2,1%	11,0%	1,7%	...	...	...	...	...	1,5%
Dzhevat Salyan, Azerbaijan Salyan is a city in and the seat of the Salyan Rayon of Azerbaijan. The city of Salyan is industrialized and known for processing caviar.-History:...	93,3%	...	4,5%	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
Kuba Quba Quba is a rayon in northeastern Azerbaijan. The capital is located on the Kudyal River at 41.37°N, 48.50°E....	38,3%	25,3%	1,4%	...	24,4%	...	6,3%	...	...	2,2%	...
Lenkoran Lankaran -History:The city was built on a swamp along the northern bank of the river bearing the city's name. There are remains of human settlements in the area dating back to the Neolithic period as well as ruins of fortified villages from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Lankaran's history is rather recent,...	64,7%	...	7,2%	...	...	26,7%	...	...	...	...	...
Shemakh Samaxi Şamaxı is a city in and the capital of the Shamakhi Rayon of Azerbaijan. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city's estimated population as of 2010 was 31,704...	73,7%	3,7%	9,3%	11,7%	...	...	...	...	...	...	...

Known governors

• Konstantin Tarkhanov-Mouravov, 1859–1863
• Mikhail Kolyubakin, 1863–1872
• Dmitry Staroselsky
  Dmitry Staroselsky
  Dmitry Semyonovich Staroselsky was a Russian general and bureaucrat who served as a Governor of Baku from 1872 to 1875 and Chief of the Administration of the Viceroy of the Caucasus from 1878 to 1884....
  
  , 1872–1875
• Valeriy Pozen, 1875–1882
• Justin von Huebsch Grostal, 1882–1888
• Vladimir Rogge, 1888–1899
• Dmitry Odintsov, 1899–1904
• Mikhail Nakashidze, 1904–1905
• Andrei Fadeyev, 1905
• Vladimir Alyshevsky, 1905–1915
• Leo Potulov, 1916–1917