Black Sea Governorate
The Black Sea Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate was the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. In 1905, the population of the governorate was approximately 70,000 and its area was, making it the smallest Russian governorate by both measures. The governorate ceased to exist when the Black Sea Soviet Republic was established on its territory in the spring of 1918—later the governorate was incorporated into the Kuban-Black Sea Oblast of the Russian SFSR in March 1920.
Administrative divisions
The districts of the Black Sea Governorate in 1917 were as follows:Demographics
Russian Empire Census
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 57,478 on, including 34,776 men and 22,702 women. The plurality of the population indicated Russian to be their mother tongue, with significant Ukrainian, Armenian, and Greek speaking minorities.| Native language | Number | % |
| Russian | 24,635 | 42.86 |
| Ukrainian | 9,252 | 16.10 |
| Armenian | 6,285 | 10.93 |
| Greek | 5,969 | 10.38 |
| Circassian | 1,939 | 3.37 |
| Czech | 1,290 | 2.24 |
| Jewish | 990 | 1.72 |
| Georgian | 967 | 1.68 |
| Romanian | 923 | 1.61 |
| Estonian | 791 | 1.38 |
| German | 748 | 1.30 |
| Polish | 731 | 1.27 |
| Belarusian | 659 | 1.15 |
| Turkish | 650 | 1.13 |
| Mingrelian | 304 | 0.53 |
| Tatar | 291 | 0.51 |
| Persian | 210 | 0.37 |
| Imeretian | 158 | 0.27 |
| Other | 686 | 1.19 |
| TOTAL | 57,478 | 100.00 |