Bessarabia in the Russian Empire

Guberniya of Bessarabia
Basarabia
part of the Russian Empire
1812–1917
Coat of arms
Bessarabia Governorate, 1883
Capital		Chişinău
Languages		Russian (official) Romanian/Moldovan, Ukrainian
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 (17,620 sq mi)
Currency		Russian ruble
Preceded by Succeeded by Moldavia Principality of Romania Moldavia Moldavian Democratic Republic
Today part of		Moldova  Ukraine

Bessarabia Oblast 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.

Before the Russian annexation, the territory had no particular name, Moldavia being traditionally divided into Ţara de Sus (the Upper Lands, the mountainous area of the Carpathians) and Ţara de Jos (the Lower Lands, the plains which included this territory). Bessarabia was the southern part of this territory (now known as Budjak), being named after the Wallachian house of Basarab, which ruled it in the 14th century. The Russians used the name "Bessarabia" for the whole region rather than the southern area.