Sukhumi okrug

The Sukhumi or Sukhum okrug was a special administrative district (okrug) in the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, part of the Kutaisi Governorate from 1883 until 1905. The administrative center of the district was the Black Sea port city of Sukhum (present-day Sukhumi). The okrug bordered the Kutaisi Governorate to the southwest, the Kuban Oblast to the north and the Black Sea Governorate to the northwest and in terms of its area corresponded to most of contemporary Abkhazia. During 1905–1917, the Sukhumi okrug was one of the smallest independent (not part of any province or region) administrative units of the Russian Empire, second to the Zakatal okrug.

History 
In the 19th century, the territory of the Sukhumi okrug, some  containing 79,195 inhabitants, consisted of the Principality of Abkhazia (abolished in 1864) and the communities of Tsebelda, Samurzakan, and Pskhu community. In 1864–1866, the military district of Sukhumi was made up of the okrugs of Abkhaz, Bzyb, and Abzhua and pristavstvos of Tsebelda and Samurzakan. In 1883, the district was transformed into an okrug and incorporated into the Kutaisi Governorate. In 1905, the Sukhumi okrug was separated from the Kutaisi Governorate to be directly administered by the Viceroy of the Caucasus.

In April–May 1918, Georgian forces of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic prevented Soviet forces from taking the district. In June 1918, as a result of an agreement between the authorities of the Georgian Democratic Republic and the Abkhaz People's Council, the Georgian army occupied the district as well as the adjacent Sochi and Tuapse okrugs—the Georgian government aimed to "present the Volunteer Army with a fait accompli", using historical justifications for incorporating these districts.

As result of attempts by Anton Denikin to conquer the district in 1919 during the Sochi conflict, a neutralised bufferzone was imposed north of the district in the Sochinsky okrug, between the Mekhadiri and Psou rivers. According to the Treaty of Moscow (1920), the Georgia–Russia border in Abkhazia was "traced along the Psou" rather than the Bzyb (further south) which had been the boundary of the Sukhumi okrug. The 1921 constitution of Georgia guaranteed Abkhazia the autonomy for managing its internal affairs. The constitution was proclaimed after the Red Army invasion of Georgia in February 1921; the nature of the promised autonomy was never determined.

Administrative divisions 
The subcounties (uchastoks) of the Sukhumi okrug in 1912 were as follows:

Demographics

Russian Empire Census 
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Sukhumi okrug had a population of 106,179 on , including 59,836 men and 46,343 women. The majority of the population indicated Abkhazian to be their mother tongue, with significant Mingrelian, Armenian, Greek, and Russian speaking minorities.

Kavkazskiy kalendar 
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Sukhumi okrug had a population of 209,671 on , including 127,619 men and 82,052 women, 135,838 of whom were the permanent population, and 73,833 were temporary residents.

Notes

References

Bibliography 

 
Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917)
Oblasts of the Russian Empire
Modern history of Georgia (country)
Kutaisi Governorate
History of Abkhazia
States and territories established in 1883
States and territories disestablished in 1921
1880s establishments in Georgia (country)
1920s disestablishments in Georgia (country)
1883 establishments in the Russian Empire
1921 disestablishments in Russia
Governorates of the Caucasus