Courland Governorate

Courland Governorate
Курляндская губерния
Kurlyandskaya guberniya
Governorate of the Russian Empire
←
1795–1915 →
Flag Coat of arms
Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire
Capital Jelgava
History
 • Partition of Poland 28 March 1795
 • German occupation 1915
 • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918
Population
 • (1897) 674,034 
Political subdivisions 9

Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland,[1] Governorate of Kurland[2] (Russian: Курля́ндская губерния), and Government of Courland (German: Kurländisches Gouvernement), was one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, that is now part of the Republic of Latvia.

The governorate was created in 1795 out of the territory of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia that was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the province of Courland with its capital at Jelgava (called Mitau at the time), following the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Until the late 19th century the governorate was not ruled by Russia but was administered independently by the local Baltic German nobility through a feudal Regional Council (German: Landtag).[3]

The governorate was bounded in north by the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga and the Governorate of Livonia; west by the Baltic Sea; south by the Vilna Governorate and Prussia and east by the Vitebsk Governorate and Minsk Governorate. The population in 1846 was estimated at 553,300.[1]

It ceased to exist during World War I after the German Empire took control of the region in 1915. Russia surrendered the territory by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918.

Subdivisions

List of governors

Between 1800 and 1876 overall authority in Courland was handed to the governor-general of the Baltic Provinces (German: Generalgouverneur der Ostseeprovinzen).

In March 1918 the Baltic provinces were transferred to German authority following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Language

Language Number percentage (%) males females
Latvian 507 511 75.29 240 672 266 839
German 51 017 7.56 23 372 27 645
Yiddish 37 689 5.59 18 137 19 552
Russian 25 630 3.8 16 319 9 311
Polish 19 688 2.92 9 985 9 703
Lithuanian 16 531 2.45 8 833 7 698
Belarusian 12 283 1.82 6 356 5 927
Romani 1 202 0.17 581 621
Persons
that didn't name
their native language		 5 >0.01 4 1
Other[5] 2 478 0.36 1 993 485
Total 674 034 100 326 252 347 782

See also

References and notes

  1. 1 2 The English Cyclopaedia By Charles Knigh
  2. ↑ The Baltic States from 1914 to 1923 By LtCol Andrew Parrott
  3. ↑ Smith, David James (2005). The Baltic States and Their Region. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-1666-8.
  4. ↑ Language Statistics of 1897 (Russian)
  5. ↑ Languages, number of speakers which in all gubernia were less than 1000
Livonian Confederation Terra Mariana Latvian SSR Duchy of Livonia (1721–1917) Duchy of Livonia (1629–1721) Duchy of Livonia (1561–1621) Courland Governorate Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Latvia History of Latvia

Coordinates: 56°39′08″N 23°43′28″E / 56.6522°N 23.7244°E / 56.6522; 23.7244

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