Bessarabia Governorate
| Guberniya of Bessarabia | ||||||||||
| Basarabia | ||||||||||
| part of the Russian Empire | ||||||||||
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 Bessarabia Governorate, 1883
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| Capital | Chişinău | |||||||||
| Political structure | part of the Russian Empire | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Annexation of Eastern Moldavia by the Russian Empire | 1812 | ||||||||
| • | Dissolution of the Russian Empire | 1917 | ||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||
| • | 1917 | 45,630 km² (17,618 sq mi) | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Moldova Ukraine
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Coat of arms
Bessarabia was an oblast (1812–1871) and later a guberniya (Guberniya of Bessarabia, 1871–1917) in the Russian Empire. It included the eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia along with the neighboring Ottoman-ruled territories annexed by Russia by the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812. The Governorate was disbanded in 1917, with the establishment of Sfatul Ţării, a national assembly which proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic in December 1917. The latter united with Romania in April 1918.
Around 70% of the territory of the former governorate now belongs to the Republic of Moldova, and around 30% to Ukraine.
As the Russian Empire noticed the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, it occupied the eastern half of the autonomous Principality of Moldavia, between the Prut and Dniester rivers. This was followed by six years of warfare, which were concluded by the Treaty of Bucharest (1812), by which the Ottoman Empire acknowledged the Russian annexation of the province.
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Wikipedia