The Erivan Governorate^{[lower-alpha 1]} was a province (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs,^[1] roughly corresponding to what is now most of central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of Turkey, and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan. At the end of the 19th century, it bordered the Tiflis Governorate to the north, the Elizavetpol Governorate to the east, the Kars Oblast to the west, and Persia and the Ottoman Empire to the south. Mount Ararat and the fertile Ararat Valley were included in the center of the province.

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Erivan Governorate Эриванская губерния
Governorate
Coat of arms
Administrative map of the Erivan Governorate
Country	Russian Empire
Viceroyalty	Caucasus
Established	1849
Abolished	1917
Capital	Erivan (present-day Yerevan)
Area
• Total	26,397.11 km2 (10,191.98 sq mi)
• Water	1,416.2 km2 (546.8 sq mi)
Highest elevation (Mount Ararat)	5,137 m (16,854 ft)
Population  (1916)
• Total	1,120,242
• Density	42/km2 (110/sq mi)
• Urban	11.83%
• Rural	88.17%

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In 1828, the khanates of Erivan and the Nakhichevan were annexed from Persia by the Russian Empire through the Treaty of Turkmenchay. The newly annexed territories were incorporated into a single administrative unit known as the Armenian Oblast. In 1849, the oblast was reorganized into a governorate,^[2]

By decree of Tsar Nicholas I on April 10, 1840, Transcaucasia was divided into two administrative units: The Georgia-Imeretia Governorate and the Caspian Oblast. The religious and national affiliations of the peoples of Transcaucasia were not considered during the administrative arrangements, which led to the dissatisfaction of the indigenous peoples.

In 1846 these two units were dissolved, and instead of the Georgian-Imereti governorate, the Tiflis Governorate and Kutais Governorate were formed. By a special imperial decree in 1849, the Erivan Governorate was detached and established separate from the Tiflis Governorate.^[2] The region of Meghri was temporarily annexed into the Erivan Governorate before being reallocated to the Elizavetpol Governorate.^[2]

In 1872, the Erivan Governorate was consisted of 7 administrative districts: Alexandropol, Erivan, Nor Bayazet, Sharur-Daralayaz, Etchmiadzin, Nakhichevan and Surmalu.^[3] Besides Erivan, other important cities included Alexandropol (Gyumri), Nakhichevan (Nakhchivan), Novobayazet (Gavar), Ordubad, and Vagarshapat (Vagharshapat).

In 1918, the First Republic of Armenia was formed in the territory of Erivan Governorate and parts of Kars Oblast, Elizavetpol and Tiflis governorates, with Erivan (Yerevan) as its national capital. Following the Sovietization of the Caucasus, the territory of the Erivan Governorate was divided between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Soviet republics, and the Republic of Turkey.

Between 1880 and 1890, the cities of the Erivan Governorate experienced rapid growth as they became interconnected with the neighboring provincial capitals of Tiflis (Tbilisi), Kutais (Kutaisi), Yelisavetpol (Ganja), and Baku. The Transcaucasus railway had been developed since the end of the 19th century, from Tiflis reaching Alexandropol in 1897, which shortly after became a regional railway center (Gyumri railway station). The Kars-Alexandropol-Tiflis (Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi) railway was put into operation in 1899, and the railway from Alexandropol to Erivan in 1901. In 1906, the Erivan-Julfa railway was put into operation,^[4] thereby establishing a connection between Erivan and Iran. Highways of state significance were also improved, thus the trade between cities became increasingly active, the crafts developed again, and the first industry began in the province. Shortly after, the first hydropower plant was put into operation.^[5] A long-distance telephone and telegraph connection was later established.^[4] Later, the Transcaucasus Railway was connected to the Russian railway network, thereby connecting Erivan with Moscow, St. Petersburg, and through the seaport of Batum to the Mediterranean countries.

Until 1872, the various districts of the Erivan Governorate were still referred to by their Persian designation mahal ("small district").^[9] After 1872, the Russians split the Erivan Governorate into seven uezds: Erivan, Etchmiadzin, Surmalu, Nakhichevan, Alexandropol, Sharur-Daralayaz and Nor Bayazet. Nor Bayazet was the largest uezd of the governorate, whereas Sharur-Daralayaz was the smallest.^[9]

The counties (uezds) of the Erivan Governorate in 1917 were as follows:^[10][11]

The rural reforms of 1872 and the administrative changes that followed apparently resulted in a dramatic shift. The 1886 Transcaucasian census indicated that the Erivan Governorate now had 78,672 households, totalling 670,400 inhabitants—this indicated that the province had doubled in population since the 1856 survey due to the land reform, sanitation, and medical care which had advanced under the Russian administration.^[9] Between 1870 and 1910, some 100,000 Armenians immigrated to Eastern Armenia. The Armenian migration was motivated by confiscations of property and massacres such as the Hamidian massacres.^[12]

In the year 1907, the Erivan Governorate, which had a population of 426,011 men and 382,631 women totalling 808,642 inhabitants, consisted of 1,295 villages. Generally, most of the villages were exclusive in ethnic-character, however, some villages in the Nakhichevan uezd were mixed Armenian–Tatar. On average, Armenian households had 6–7 occupants, Tatar households 6.5–7.5, and Kurdish households 9–10. The ethnic makeup of rural households was the following:^[13]

Louis Joseph Jérôme Napoléon (1864–1932), grandnephew of Napoleon I, was made governor in 1905 to help calm the governorate after the Armenian-Tatar conflicts.^{[citation needed]}

List of the governors of Erivan Governorate.^[14]

• 1849 - 1859 Ivan Nazarov
• 1860 - 1862 Mikhail Astafev
• 1862 - 1863 Nikolai Kolyubakin
• 1863 - 1865 Aleksey Kharitonov
• 1869 - 1873 Nikolai Karmalin
• 1873 - 1880 Mikhail Roslavlev
• March 22, 1880 - December 22, 1890 Mikhail Shalikov
• February 2, 1891 - November 16, 1895 Alexander Frese
• February 20, 1896 - 1916 Vladimir Tiesenhausen
• 1905 Louis Joseph Jérôme Napoléon
• 1905 - 1906 Maksud Alikhanov-Avarskiy
• 1916 - 1917 Arkady Strelbitskiy
• March 14, 1917 - November 1917 V.A. Kharlamov
• November 1917 Avetis Agaryan
• 1917-1917 Sokrat Tyurosyan

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erivan Governorate.

• Russian Armenia
• History of Yerevan