Irkutsk Governorate
The Irkutsk Governorate ( Russian Иркутская губерния / Irkutskaja gubernija ) was an administrative unit in the Siberian part of the Russian Empire and was subordinate to the Governor General of Eastern Siberia .
It covered 7,271,642 km². The capital was Irkutsk . It was the easternmost territory of the empire with government status . It bordered the Chinese Empire to the south and, within Russia, the Yakutsk Oblast , the Transbaikalia Oblast and the Yeniseisk Governorate .
It was created in 1764, received its later form with the administrative reallocation of Siberia in 1822 and existed until 1926.
It consisted of the following districts ( okruge ):
- Balagansk
- Irkutsk
- Kirensk
- Nizhne-Udinsk
- Verkholensk
statistics
In 1897 the governorate had 514,267 inhabitants, mostly Russians, 108,867 Buryats and, in smaller numbers, Tatars, Jews and Poles. The proportion of deportees was estimated at around 6%.
Agriculture was mainly carried out by Russians; Rye, wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat and potatoes were grown; the harvest in 1896 amounted to 3,732,566 hectoliters. The natives mostly raised cattle; there were 264,856 horses, 335,549 cattle, 265,379 sheep, 85,862 pigs, 48,045 goats, 773 reindeer, and some camels. Hunting for fur animals and fishing in the rivers as well as in Lake Baikal after the Baikal seal was very important. Mining was far less important than in the neighboring provinces. Gold was mainly mined in the Birjussa valley , there were also iron ore and coal deposits as well as large deposits of graphite, mainly in the Irkut basin ; Lapis lazuli was found at the southern end of Lake Baikal. Salt was extracted from the Angara and Nepa rivers . The most notable industries, which had their seat mainly in the city of Irkutsk, were brandy distillery, tannery, iron foundry, salt works, brick making, and china and glass manufacture; In 1896 there were 135 establishments with a production value of 2,810,429 rubles. The trade was very important, as the great road from Moscow to the border trading place Kjachta ran through Irkutsk.