# Kuban oblast

The Kuban oblast was a province (oblast) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of the Kuban and Circassia regions. It was created in 1860 out of Kuban Cossack territories that had once been part of the Crimean Khanate and the land of the Circassians. It was dissolved upon the assumption of supreme authority by the Kuban Rada in 1917 and the independence of the Kuban People's Republic in 1918. Its capital was the city of Yekaterinodar (present-day Krasnodar).

## Administrative divisions

The Cossack districts (otdels) of the Kuban oblast in 1917 were as follows:
| Name | Administrative centre and the largest city | Administrative centre and the largest city | Administrative centre and the largest city | Population | Population | Area |
| Name | | 1897 | 1916 | 1897 | 1916 | Area |
| Batalpashinsky otdel (Баталпашинскій отдѣлъ) | Batalpashinskaya (Cherkessk) | 11,473 | --- | 215,400 | 298,208 | 15,328.05 square versts (17,444.27 km$^2$; 6,735.27 sq mi) |
| Yeysky otdel (Ейскій отдѣлъ) | Yeysk | 35,414 | 44,765 | 277,300 | 384,846 | 12,127.84 square versts (13,802.24 km$^2$; 5,329.07 sq mi) |
| Yeysky otdel (Ейскій отдѣлъ) | Umanskaya (Leningradskaya) | 11,137 | --- | 277,300 | 384,846 | 12,127.84 square versts (13,802.24 km$^2$; 5,329.07 sq mi) |
| Yekaterinodarsky otdel (Екатеринодарскій отдѣлъ) | Yekaterinodar (Krasnodar) | 65,606 | 103,624 | 245,173 | 371,788 | 7,357.78 square versts (8,373.61 km$^2$; 3,233.07 sq mi) |
| Kavkazsky otdel (Кавказскій отдѣлъ) | Kavkazskaya | 8,293 | --- | 249,182 | 462,235 | 13,941.40 square versts (15,866.18 km$^2$; 6,125.97 sq mi) |
| Labinsky otdel (Лабинскій отдѣлъ) | Armavir | 18,113 | 46,873 | 305,733 | 518,774 | 5,919.94 square versts (6,737.26 km$^2$; 2,601.27 sq mi) |
| Maykopsky otdel (Майкопскій отдѣлъ) | Maykop | 34,327 | 54,762 | 283,117 | 468,453 | 14,435.76 square versts (16,428.79 km$^2$; 6,343.19 sq mi) |
| Tamansky otdel (Таманскій отдѣлъ) | Slavyanskaya (Slavyansk-na-Kubani) | 15,167 | --- | 342,976 | 518,379 | 14,173.84 square versts (16,130.71 km$^2$; 6,228.10 sq mi) |
| Tamansky otdel (Таманскій отдѣлъ) | Temryuk | 14,734 | 20,221 | 342,976 | 518,379 | 14,173.84 square versts (16,130.71 km$^2$; 6,228.10 sq mi) |

### Structure

The militarized nature of the Kuban meant that, rather than a traditional governorate (guberniya) with counties (uezds), the territory was administered by the Kuban Cossacks as an oblast which was split into otdels. Each otdel had its own sotnias which in turn would be split into stanitsas and khutors. The ataman ("commander") for each region was not only responsible for the military preparation of the Cossacks, but for the local administration duties. Local stanitsa and khutor atamans were elected, but approved by the atamans of the otdel. These, in turn, were appointed by the supreme ataman of the Kuban host, who was in turn appointed directly by the Russian emperor. Prior to 1870, this system of legislature in the oblast remained a robust military one and all legal decisions were carried out by the stanitsa ataman and two elected judges. Afterwards, however, the system was bureaucratized and the judicial functions were independent of the stanitsas.

## Demographics
### Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Kuban oblast had a population of 1,918,881 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 973,023 men and 945,858 women. The plurality of the population indicated Ukrainian to be their mother tongue, with a significant Russian speaking minority.
Linguistic composition of the Kuban oblast in 1897 :
| Language | Native speakers | % |
| Ukrainian | 908,818 | 47.36 |
| Russian | 816,734 | 42.56 |
| Circassian | 38,488 | 2.01 |
| Karachay | 26,877 | 1.40 |
| German | 20,778 | 1.08 |
| Greek | 20,137 | 1.05 |
| Kabardian | 14,340 | 0.75 |
| Armenian | 13,926 | 0.73 |
| Abkhaz | 12,481 | 0.65 |
| Belarusian | 12,356 | 0.64 |
| Nogai | 5,880 | 0.31 |
| Romanian | 5,370 | 0.28 |
| Tatar | 3,848 | 0.20 |
| Polish | 2,719 | 0.14 |
| Turkish | 2,187 | 0.11 |
| Ossetian | 1,973 | 0.10 |
| Jewish | 1,942 | 0.10 |
| Romani | 1,753 | 0.09 |
| Mordovian | 1,494 | 0.08 |
| Czech | 1,213 | 0.06 |
| Georgian | 917 | 0.05 |
| Estonian | 880 | 0.05 |
| Latvian | 848 | 0.04 |
| Kyurin | 615 | 0.03 |
| Kalmyk | 378 | 0.02 |
| Bulgarian | 322 | 0.02 |
| Persian | 252 | 0.01 |
| Lithuanian | 238 | 0.01 |
| Kumyk | 205 | 0.01 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 175 | 0.01 |
| Bashkir | 138 | 0.01 |
| Avar-Andean | 127 | 0.01 |
| Other | 472 | 0.02 |
| TOTAL | 1,918,881 | 100.00 |
Religious composition of the Kuban oblast in 1897 :
| Faith | Male | Female | Both | Both |
| Faith | Male | Female | Number | % |
| Eastern Orthodox | 884,028 | 863,291 | 1,747,319 | 91.06 |
| Muslim | 53,199 | 49,721 | 102,920 | 5.36 |
| Old Believer | 12,363 | 12,580 | 24,943 | 1.30 |
| Lutheran | 8,559 | 8,182 | 16,741 | 0.87 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 7,997 | 6,653 | 14,650 | 0.76 |
| Roman Catholic | 4,413 | 3,121 | 7,534 | 0.39 |
| Judaism | 1,084 | 1,021 | 2,105 | 0.11 |
| Mennonite | 567 | 580 | 1,147 | 0.06 |
| Reformed | 425 | 409 | 834 | 0.04 |
| Buddhist | 194 | 161 | 355 | 0.02 |
| Armenian Catholic | 104 | 39 | 143 | 0.01 |
| Karaite | 42 | 49 | 91 | 0.00 |
| Baptist | 33 | 43 | 76 | 0.00 |
| Other Christian denomination | 10 | 4 | 14 | 0.00 |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 973,023 | 945,858 | 1,918,881 | 100.00 |

### Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Kuban oblast had a population of 3,022,683 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 1,523,057 men and 1,499,626 women, 1,870,280 of whom were the permanent population, and 1,152,403 were temporary residents.
| Nationality | Urban | Urban | Rural | Rural | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| Nationality | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Russians | 257,675 | 89.50 | 2,561,356 | 93.66 | 2,819,031 | 93.26 |
| North Caucasians | 674 | 0.23 | 132,997 | 4.86 | 133,671 | 4.42 |
| Other Europeans | 10,098 | 3.51 | 20,667 | 0.76 | 30,765 | 1.02 |
| Armenians | 15,557 | 5.40 | 9,014 | 0.33 | 24,571 | 0.81 |
| Sunni Muslims | 1,144 | 0.40 | 5,292 | 0.19 | 6,436 | 0.21 |
| Asiatic Christians | 390 | 0.14 | 3,270 | 0.12 | 3,660 | 0.12 |
| Jews | 1,180 | 0.41 | 1,173 | 0.04 | 2,353 | 0.08 |
| Georgians | 766 | 0.27 | 230 | 0.01 | 996 | 0.03 |
| Shia Muslims | 94 | 0.03 | 720 | 0.03 | 814 | 0.03 |
| Roma | 278 | 0.10 | 63 | 0.00 | 341 | 0.01 |
| Kurds | 45 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 45 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 287,901 | 100.00 | 2,734,782 | 100.00 | 3,022,683 | 100.00 |