Vilnius Governorate

Vilna Governorate Виленская губерния (Russian) Vilniaus gubernija  (Lithuanian) Gubernia wileńska  (Polish)
Governorate of the Russian Empire
← 1795–1915 →
Coat of arms
Vilna Governorate (light green), 1843–1915, with modern Lithuania outlined
Capital		Vilna
History
•	Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	1795
•	World War I	1915
Today part of		Belarus  Lithuania

Coat of arms

The Vilna Governorate (1795–1915; also known as Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate from 1801 until 1840; Russian: Виленская губерния, Vilenskaya guberniya, Lithuanian: Vilniaus gubernija, Polish: gubernia wileńska) or Government of Vilnius was a governorate (guberniya) of the Russian Empire created after the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. It was part of the Lithuanian General Governorate, which was called the Vilnius General Governorate after 1830, and was attached to the Northwestern Krai. The seat was in Vilnius (Vilna in Russian), where the Governors General resided.

The first governorates, Vilnius Governorate (consisting of eleven uyezds or districts) and Slonim Governorate, were established after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Just a year later, on December 12, 1796, by order of Tsar Paul I they were merged into one governorate, called the Lithuanian Governorate, with its capital in Vilnius. By order of Tsar Alexander I on September 9, 1801, the Lithuanian Governorate was split into the Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate and the Lithuania-Grodno Governorate. After 39 years, the word "Lithuania" was dropped from the two names by Nicholas I. In 1843, another administrative reform took place, creating the Kaunas Governorate (Kovno in Russian) out of seven western districts of the Vilnius Governorate, including all of Žemaitija. The Vilnius Governorate received three additional districts: Vileyka and Dzisna from the Minsk Governorate and Lida from Grodno Governorate. It was divided to districts of Vilnius, Trakai, Disna, Oshmyany, Lida, Vileyka and Sventiany. This arrangement remained unchanged until World War I. A part of the Vilnius Governorate was then included in the Lithuania District of Ober-Ost, formed by the occupying German Empire.

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