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 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 6455 verst2, 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:

Demographics

Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 57,478 on 28 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.

Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 178,306 on 14 January 1916, including 104,488 men and 73,818 women, 108,893 of whom were the permanent population, and 69,413 were temporary residents: