# Black Sea Governorate

The Black Sea Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the Black Sea Okrug [ru] of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate was the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. In 1905, the population of the governorate was approximately 70,000 and its area was 6,455 square versts (7,346 km$^2$; 2,836 sq mi), making it the smallest Russian governorate by both measures. The governorate ceased to exist when the Black Sea Soviet Republic was established on its territory in the spring of 1918—later the governorate was incorporated into the Kuban-Black Sea Oblast of the Russian SFSR in March 1920.

## Administrative divisions

The districts (okrugs) of the Black Sea Governorate in 1917 were as follows:
| Name | Administrative centre | Administrative centre | Administrative centre | Population | Population | Area |
| Name | | 1897 | 1916 | 1897 | 1916 | Area |
| Novorossiysky okrug (Новороссійскій округъ) | Novorossiysk | 16,869 | 51,651 | 34,908 | 75,021 | 999.13 square versts (1,137.07 km$^2$; 439.03 sq mi) |
| Sochinsky okrug (Сочинскій округъ) | Sochi | 1,392 | 13,254 | 13,519 | 62,920 | 3,304.84 square versts (3,761.11 km$^2$; 1,452.17 sq mi) |
| Tuapsinsky okrug (Туапсинскій округъ) | Tuapse | 1,352 | 17,817 | 9,051 | 40,365 | 1,561.86 square versts (1,777.49 km$^2$; 686.29 sq mi) |

## Demographics
### Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 57,478 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 34,776 men and 22,702 women. The plurality of the population indicated Russian to be their mother tongue, with significant Ukrainian, Armenian, and Greek speaking minorities.
Linguistic composition of the Black Sea Governorate in 1897 :
| Native language | Number | % |
| Russian | 24,635 | 42.86 |
| Ukrainian | 9,252 | 16.10 |
| Armenian | 6,285 | 10.93 |
| Greek | 5,969 | 10.38 |
| Circassian | 1,939 | 3.37 |
| Czech | 1,290 | 2.24 |
| Jewish | 990 | 1.72 |
| Georgian | 967 | 1.68 |
| Romanian | 923 | 1.61 |
| Estonian | 791 | 1.38 |
| German | 748 | 1.30 |
| Polish | 731 | 1.27 |
| Belarusian | 659 | 1.15 |
| Turkish | 650 | 1.13 |
| Mingrelian | 304 | 0.53 |
| Tatar | 291 | 0.51 |
| Persian | 210 | 0.37 |
| Imeretian | 158 | 0.27 |
| Other | 686 | 1.19 |
| TOTAL | 57,478 | 100.00 |
Religious composition of the Black Sea Governorate in 1897 :
| Faith | Male | Female | Both | Both |
| Faith | Male | Female | Number | % |
| Eastern Orthodox | 26,085 | 16,980 | 43,065 | 74.92 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 3,506 | 2,635 | 6,141 | 10.68 |
| Muslim | 2,072 | 1,031 | 3,103 | 5.40 |
| Roman Catholic | 1,485 | 944 | 2,429 | 4.23 |
| Lutheran | 835 | 580 | 1,415 | 2.46 |
| Judaism | 567 | 461 | 1,028 | 1.79 |
| Old Believer | 53 | 36 | 89 | 0.15 |
| Armenian Catholic | 58 | 24 | 82 | 0.14 |
| Reformed | 70 | 1 | 71 | 0.12 |
| Karaite | 18 | 6 | 24 | 0.04 |
| Anglican | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.01 |
| Mennonite | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Baptist | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Other Christian denomination | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.01 |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 17 | 0 | 17 | 0.03 |
| TOTAL | 34,776 | 22,702 | 57,478 | 100.00 |
Linguistic composition of urban settlements in the Black Sea Governorate in 1897 :
| Urban settlement | Russian | Russian | Ukrainian | Ukrainian | Greek | Greek | TOTAL |
| Urban settlement | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | TOTAL |
| Novorossiysk | 10,860 | 64.27 | 2,177 | 12.88 | 931 | 5.51 | 16,897 |
| Tuapse | 827 | 59.41 | 116 | 8.33 | 189 | 13.58 | 1,392 |
| Sochi | 513 | 37.94 | 269 | 19.90 | 26 | 1.92 | 1,352 |
| TOTAL | 12,200 | 62.11 | 2,562 | 13.04 | 1,146 | 5.83 | 19,641 |

### Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 178,306 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 104,488 men and 73,818 women, 108,893 of whom were the permanent population, and 69,413 were temporary residents:
| Nationality | Urban | Urban | Rural | Rural | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| Nationality | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Russians | 65,582 | 79.28 | 54,339 | 56.85 | 119,921 | 67.26 |
| Other Europeans | 6,246 | 7.55 | 15,107 | 15.80 | 21,353 | 11.98 |
| Armenians | 2,347 | 2.84 | 15,712 | 16.44 | 18,059 | 10.13 |
| Georgians | 1,750 | 2.12 | 4,336 | 4.54 | 6,086 | 3.41 |
| Asiatic Christians | 3,407 | 4.12 | 1,932 | 2.02 | 5,339 | 2.99 |
| North Caucasians | 672 | 0.81 | 3,426 | 3.58 | 4,104 | 2.30 |
| Jews | 1,784 | 2.16 | 9 | 0.01 | 1,793 | 1.01 |
| Shia Muslims | 922 | 1.11 | 649 | 0.68 | 1,571 | 0.88 |
| Sunni Muslims | 12 | 0.01 | 56 | 0.06 | 68 | 0.04 |
| Roma | 0 | 0.00 | 12 | 0.01 | 12 | 0.01 |
| TOTAL | 82,722 | 100.00 | 95,584 | 100.00 | 178,306 | 100.00 |