The Dogado or Duchy of Venice was the word used to define a Doge

Doge

Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....

's reign

Reign

A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...

 and the name given to the homeland of the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, headed by the Doge.

This term was equivalent to Ducato (duchy

Duchy

A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...

), the term given to Italian city states that (unlike Venice) had a duke

Duke

A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

 as hereditary head of state. It comprised the city of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 and the narrow coastal strip from Loreo

Loreo, Italy

Loreo is a comune in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about 40 km south of Venice and about 35 km east of Rovigo...

 to Grado

Grado, Italy

Grado is a town and comune in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located on a peninsula of the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Trieste....

, though these borders later extended from Goro

Goro, Italy

Goro is a comune in the Province of Ferrara in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 80 km northeast of Bologna and about 50 km east of Ferrara, near the mouth of the Po River....

 to the south, Polesine

Polesine

Polesine is a geographic and historic area in the north-east of Italy corresponding nowadays with the province of Rovigo; it is a strip of land about 100-km long and 18-km wide located between the lower courses of the Adige and the Po rivers.- Geography :...

 and Padovano to the west, Trevisano and Friuli

Friuli

Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...

 to the north and the mouth of the Isonzo to the east.

Apart from Venice, the capital and in practice a city-state of its own, the administration of the Dogado was subdivided in nine district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

s starting at the north: Grado, Caorle

Caorle

Caorle is a coastal town in the province of Venice, Veneto, Italy, located between the estuaries of the Livenza and Lemene rivers. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea between two other famous touristic towns, Eraclea and Bibione.-History:...

, Torcello

Torcello

Torcello is a quiet and sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon. It is considered the oldest continuously populated region of Venice, and once held the largest population of the Republic of Venice.-History:...

, Murano

Murano

Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about 1.5 km north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 . It is famous for its glass making, particularly lampworking...

, Malamocco

Malamocco

Malamocco is one of the three narrow inlets in the enclosing coastal dune bar that connect the Venetian Lagoon with the Adriatic Sea, together with the Lido and Chioggia inlets...

, Chioggia

Chioggia

Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the province of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy.-Geography:...

, Loreo, Cavarzere

Cavarzere

Cavarzere is a comune in the Province of Venice in the Italian region Veneto, located about 35 km southwest of Venice....

 and Gambarare. In lieu of the earlier tribune

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

s (elected by the people) and gastald

Gastald

A gastald was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne with civil, martial, and judicial powers. By the Edictum Rothari of 643, the gastalds were given the civil authority in the cities and the reeves the like authority in the countryside...

s (corresponding with the Doge), during the Republic each district was led by a patrician with the title of podestà

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

, with the exception of Grado, headed by a Count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

.

It was one of the three subdivisions of the Republic's possessions, the other two being the Stato da Màr

Stato da Màr

The Stato da Màr or Domini da Màr was the name given to the Republic of Venice's maritime and overseas possessions, including Istria, Dalmatia, Negroponte, the Morea , the Aegean islands of the Duchy of the Archipelago, and the islands of Crete and Cyprus...

("Sea State") and the Domini di Terraferma

Domini di Terraferma

The Domini di Terraferma or Stato da Tera was the name given to the territories of the Republic of Venice conquered in the Padano–Veneto hinterland....

("mainland domains").