The administrative division of Ukraine in 1918 was inherited from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, and based on the largest unit of the gubernia (also called a province, government, or governorate;

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

) with smaller subdivisions county or district (), and rural district (). New administrative reform was adopted by the

Central Council of Ukraine The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...

on March 4, 1918, which saw restructuring the subdivision of Ukraine based on a new system of the land () and abolishing the system of governorates and povits. Implementation of the new system was never fully realized and was abandoned after Skoropadsky's coup-d'etat on April 29, 1918. The system of governorates was finally abolished by the government of the Soviet Union in 1925, and replaced with the region ( ''okruha'') and district ( ''raion'').

Regions

Ukraine was divided into nine governorates, two okruhas and three cities with special status.

Governorates

* Chernihiv Governorate * Katerynoslav Governorate * Kiev Governorate *

Kharkiv Governorate Kharkiv Governorate ( uk, Харківська губернія, translit=Kharkivska huberniia) was a governorate of Ukraine from 1918 to 1925. The region was re-established in 1918 as the Kharkov Governorate plus southern regions of Kursk Gover ...

Kherson Governorate The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...

* Podolia Governorate * Poltava Governorate * Volhynia Governorate Kholm Governorate was reestablished November 1918 (previously part of the Volhynia governorate), but it was never fully realized. In 1919 it was fully occupied by the Polish Army and in 1920 transferred to the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

after the Warsaw Treaty. In January 1919 the West Ukrainian People's Republic joined the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

as its Western Oblast by the

Unification Act The Unification Act ( uk, Акт Злуки, translit=Akt Zluky, , "Act Zluky" or uk, Велика Злука, translit=Velyka Zluka, label=none, ) was an agreement signed on 22 January 1919, by the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukr ...

, while de facto being almost completely occupied by Poland. Chernihiv Governorate also included Homiel county that was ceded from the Mahilou Governorate. Some parts of Kursk Governorate were ceded to Chernihiv and Kharkiv governorates. Kharkiv governorate also received some counties of Voronezh governorate. With reestablishment of the Soviet regime some transformations took place. The following were created: *

Kremenchuk Governorate Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pro ...

Donets Governorate Donets Governorate ( uk, Донецька губернія, translit=Donetska huberniia) was a governorate of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine) that existed between 1919 and 1925. History The governorate was originally created on 5 February 1919 on orde ...

Odesa Governorate Odesa Governorate (), was a territorial division of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine) that was created in January 1920 by a decision of the All-Ukrainian Revolutionary Committee (Soviet regime). The new governorate was initially created from the weste ...

Zaporizhia Governorate Zaporizhzhia Governorate () was a territorial division or gubernia of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine) that was created in April 1920. The new governorate was temporarily established in place of the Tavria Okruha. Soon after the Ukrainian SSR joined ...

Kherson Governorate was renamed Mykolaiv Governorate in 1921, and later merged into Odesa Governorate. Volhynia Governorate was lost to Poland after the

Peace of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. ...

. The

Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic * ro, Proletari din toate țările, uniți-vă! (Moldovan Cyrillic: ) * uk, Пролетарі всіх країн, єднайтеся! * russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! , title_leader = First Secr ...

was created from parts of Odesa Governorate.

Okruhas

* Polissia Okruha * Tavria Okruha Tavria (Taurida) Okruha was created after the liberation of Ukraine from Soviet occupation in 1918 when the Crimean peninsula was administered by the Crimean Regional Government, while the continental part of the

Taurida Governorate The Taurida Governorate (russian: Тавріическая губернія, modern spelling , ; crh, script=Latn, Tavrida guberniyası, ) or the Government of Taurida, was a historical governorate of the Russian Empire. It included the Crime ...

became the Taurida Okruha. Polissia Okruha was created in August 1918 from the southern counties of the

Minsk Governorate The Minsk Governorate (russian: Минская губерния, Belarusian: ) or Government of Minsk was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. The seat was in Minsk. It was created in 1793 from the land acquired in the partition ...

. Both okruhas were liquidated after the 1920 invasion of Soviet forces. More systematic division of okruhas was created in Soviet Ukraine in 1923 when okruhas were at first a subdivision of governorates, then and after the 1925 liquidation of governorates okruhas became the main subdivision of the republic.

Cities

*Kiev *Odesa *Mykolaiv

References

External links

Huban, R. ''History of establishment of the modern administrative division system of Ukraine''
"Justian". Jurist Magazine, 2009
Administrative division of the Ukrainian lands
Institute of History of Ukraine.

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

.
Mykhailo Hrushevsky - creator of the system of democratic elections in Ukraine

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

.
Administrative-territorial reform in the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Administrative divisions of Ukraine (1918-25)