Penza Governorate
The Penza Governorate ( Russian Пензенская губерния / Pensenskaja gubernija ) was an administrative unit of the Russian Empire in the central part of the country. It bordered the governorates of Nizhny Novgorod , Simbirsk , Saratov, and Tambov . In today's terms, it roughly coincides with the Penza Oblast and the Republic of Mordovia .
It had an area of 38,840.6 square kilometers, the capital was Pensa .
It was founded in 1780 as a governor and converted into the later governorate in 1801. It existed until 1928 when it opened up in the Lower Volga Oblast .
Around 1900 it was divided into ten Ujesdy (circles):
- Gorodishche
- Insar
- Kerensk (today Vadinsk )
- Krasnoslobodsk
- Mokschany
- Narovchat
- Nizhny Lomov
- Penza
- Saransk
- Chembar (today Belinsky )
statistics
According to the 1897 census, the governorate had 1,470,474 inhabitants. The population consisted mostly of Russians, there were also 187,862 Mordvins and 58,530 Tatars . With the exception of about 4% Muslims, the inhabitants belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church .
The harvest in 1902 was 8,300 tons of wheat, 596,300 tons of rye, 290,800 tons of oats, 31,800 tons of peas, 11,900 tons of buckwheat and 389,000 tons of potatoes. In addition, flax and hemp seeds were grown, as well as some tobacco. In 1902 there were 321,000 horses, 335,000 horned cattle, 238,000 fine-wool and 838,000 coarse-wool sheep and 118,000 pigs. There was also beekeeping and vegetable growing. Mineral treasures included chalk, sandstone, peat and clay, and some pebbles were extracted and smelted. The industry was poorly developed. In 1900 there were 2,718 industrial establishments with 16,719 workers and a production value of about 22 million rubles. The main part of it had the distillery and the cloth manufacture.