The

Little Russia Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру� ...

Governorate (russian: link=no, Малороссiйская Губернiя) or Government of Malorossiya was an administrative-territorial unit ( guberniya) of 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. ...

that encompassed most of the modern North Eastern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

(one of the historical definitions of

hence the name), and the adjacent regions in Russia. The Governorate was formed in 1796 under the administrative reforms of

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch * Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Pau ...

which abolished the Namestnichestvo (

viceroyalty A viceroyalty was an entity headed by a viceroy. It dates back to the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century. France * Viceroyalty of New France Portuguese Empire In the scope of the Portuguese Empire, the term " Viceroyalt ...

) system, which in turn replaced the regimental administration of the Ukrainian Hetmanate in 1781. This placed the

Kiev Viceroyalty Kiev Viceroyalty was created in the process of the Catherine II of Russia, Catherine's reform initiated by hers November 7, 1775 edict when the new administrative unit namestnichestvo (viceroyalty) was introduced. Description On September 16, 1 ...

(excluding the city of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

itself), Novgorod-Seversky Viceroyalty and Chernigov Viceroyalty under the new unit. The administrative centre was the city of Chernigov (modern

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

). However, the extensive area which the new unit covered was too great for effective administration, and in February 1802 the Governorate was split into

Chernigov Governorate The Chernigov Governorate (russian: Черниговская губерния; translit.: ''Chernigovskaya guberniya''; ), also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian ...

and

Poltava Governorate The Poltava Governorate (russian: Полтавская губерния, Poltavskaya guberniya; ua, Полтавська Губернія, translit=Poltavska huberniia) or Poltavshchyna was a gubernia (also called a province or government) in t ...

External links

Little Russia Governorate
in the

Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine ''Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія історії України, ЕІУ) is an illustrated encyclopedia on history of Ukraine in 10 volumes. It was published in Ukrainian language in 2003–2013 and 2019Ihor S ...

Governorates of the Russian Empire Governorates of Ukraine Political history of Ukraine 1796 establishments in the Russian Empire 1802 disestablishments in the Russian Empire 1790s in Ukraine 1800s in Ukraine {{Russia-hist-stub