# Moscow Governorate

The Moscow Governorate was a province (guberniya) of the Tsardom of Russia, and the Russian Empire. It was bordered by Tver Governorate to the north, Vladimir Governorate to the northeast, Ryazan Governorate to the southeast, Tula Governorate to the south, Kaluga Governorate to the southwest, and Smolensk Governorate to the west. Moscow Governorate consisted of an area of 33,272.84 square kilometres (12,846.72 sq mi) and a population of 2,430,581 in 1897. Its capital was in Moscow.

## Administrative division

The counties (uezds) of the Moscow Governorate in 1897 were as follows:
| County | County | Capital | Area | Population (1897 census) |
| Transliteration name | Russian Cyrillic | Capital | Area | Population (1897 census) |
| Bogorodsky | Богородскій | Bogorodsk (Noginsk) | 3,068.5 square versts (3,492.1 km$^2$; 1,348.3 sq mi) | 222,341 |
| Bronnitsky | Бронницкій | Bronnitsy | 2,051 square versts (2,334 square kilometres; 901 square miles) | 130,304 |
| Vereysky | Верейскій | Vereya | 1,623.3 square versts (1,847.4 square kilometres; 713.3 square miles) | 54,074 |
| Volokolamsky | Волоколамскій | Volokolamsk | 2,138 square versts (2,433 square kilometres; 939 square miles) | 80,984 |
| Dmitrovsky Uyezd | Дмитровскій | Dmitrov | 2,974.6 square versts (3,385.3 square kilometres; 1,307.1 square miles) | 119,686 |
| Zvenigorodsky | Звенигородскій | Zvenigorod | 2,012.3 square versts (2,290.1 square kilometres; 884.2 square miles) | 84,375 |
| Klinsky | Клинскій | Klin | 3,095.9 square versts (3,523.3 square kilometres; 1,360.4 square miles) | 115,162 |
| Kolomensky | Коломенскій | Kolomna | 1,861.4 square versts (2,118.4 square kilometres; 817.9 square miles) | 111,927 |
| Mozhaysky | Можайскій | Mozhaysk | 1,621.5 square versts (1,845.4 square kilometres; 712.5 square miles) | 53,967 |
| Moskovsky | Московскій | Moscow | 2,393 square versts (2,723 square kilometres; 1,052 square miles) | 1,203,926 |
| Podolsky | Подольскій | Podolsk | 2,160.4 square versts (2,458.7 square kilometres; 949.3 square miles) | 86,311 |
| Ruzsky | Рузскій | Ruza | 1,984.1 square versts (2,258.0 square kilometres; 871.8 square miles) | 55,522 |
| Serpukhovsky | Серпуховскій | Serpukhov | 2,252.4 square versts (2,563.4 square kilometres; 989.7 square miles) | 112,002 |

## History

Moscow Governorate, together with seven other governorates, was established on December 29 [O.S. December 18], 1708, by Tsar Peter the Great's edict. As with the rest of the governorates, initially, neither the borders nor internal subdivisions of Moscow Governorate were defined; instead, the territory was defined as a set of cities and the lands adjacent to those cities. Later, Moscow Governorate was subdivided into 13 uyezds.
Cities included into Moscow Governorate at the time of its establishment :
| # | City | # | City | # | City |
| 1. | Moscow | 14. | Lyubim | 27. | Suzdal |
| 2. | Aleksin | 15. | Medyn | 28. | Tarussa |
| 3. | Borovsk | 16. | Mikhaylov | 29. | Tsarev Borisov |
| 4. | Dedilov | 17. | Mozhaysk | 30. | Tula |
| 5. | Dmitrov | 18. | Obolensk | 31. | Veneva |
| 6. | Gremyachey | 19. | Pecherniki | 32. | Vereya |
| 7. | Kaluga | 20. | Pereslavl Ryazanskoy | 33. | Volodimir |
| 8. | Klin | 21. | Pereslavl Zaleskoy | 34. | Volokolamsk |
| 9. | Kolomna | 22. | Pronsk | 35. | Yaroslavets Maly |
| 10. | Koshira | 23. | Rostov | 36. | Yepifan |
| 11. | Kostroma | 24. | Ruza | 37. | Yuryev Polskoy |
| 12. | Krapivna | 25. | Serpukhov | 38. | Zaraysk |
| 13. | Lukh | 26. | Shuya | 39. | Zvenigorod |
The governorate underwent numerous changes in the following years, and was finally abolished on January 14, 1929 when modern Moscow Oblast was created.

## Demography
### Language

* Population by mother tongue according to the Imperial census of 1897.
| Language | Number | percentage (%) | males | females |
| Russian | 2,371,102 | 97.5 | 1,181,296 | 1,189,806 |
| German | 19,116 | 0.7 | 9,225 | 9,891 |
| Polish | 10,960 | 0.4 | 7,676 | 3,284 |
| Jewish | 5,756 | 0.2 | 3,795 | 1,961 |
| Ukrainian | 5,506 | 0.2 | 4,838 | 668 |
| Tatar | 5,469 | 0.2 | 4,492 | 977 |
| French | 2,621 | 0.1 | 1,035 | 1,586 |
| Armenian | 1,633 | 0.0 | 1,201 | 432 |
| Belarusian | 1,292 | 0.0 | 948 | 344 |
| English | 1,135 | 0.0 | 559 | 576 |
| Latvian | 1,018 | 0.0 | 731 | 287 |
| Lithuanian | 690 | 0.0 | 600 | 90 |
| Czech | 636 | 0.0 | 397 | 239 |
| Gypsy | 511 | 0.0 | 249 | 262 |
| Estonian | 396 | 0.0 | 243 | 153 |
| Italian | 374 | 0.0 | 220 | 154 |
| Greek | 292 | 0.0 | 241 | 51 |
| Swedish | 228 | 0.0 | 117 | 111 |
| Chuvash | 152 | 0.0 | 147 | 5 |
| Komi | 148 | 0.0 | 144 | 4 |
| Bulgarian | 110 | 0.0 | 100 | 10 |
| Other | 1,436 | 0.0 | 1,013 | 423 |
| Total | 2,430,581 | 100.0 | 1,219,267 | 1,211,314 |

### Religion

* According to the Imperial census of 1897.
| Religion | Number | percentage (%) | males | females |
| Pravoslavs | 2,272,145 | 93.5 | 1,139,289 | 1,132,856 |
| Old Believers and others split from Pravoslavs | 99,825 | 4.1 | 44,682 | 55,143 |
| Lutherans | 21,437 | 0.8 | 10,701 | 10,736 |
| Roman Catholic | 17,670 | 0.7 | 11,497 | 6,173 |
| Judaism | 8,704 | 0.3 | 5,400 | 3,304 |
| Islam | 5,605 | 0.2 | 4,678 | 927 |
| Reformed | 2,218 | 0.0 | 1,088 | 1,130 |
| Armenian Gregorians | 1,640 | 0.0 | 1,188 | 452 |
| Anglicans | 838 | 0.0 | 441 | 397 |
| Karaites | 347 | 0.0 | 210 | 137 |
| Armenian Catholic Church | 25 | 0.0 | 18 | 7 |
| Buddhists, Lamaists | 11 | 0.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Mennonites | 3 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Other: Christian denominations | 103 | 0.0 | 52 | 51 |
| Other: non-Christians | 10 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 |
| Total | 2,430,581 | 100.0 | 1,219,267 | 1,211,314 |