Batumi Okrug
The Batumi okrug was a district (okrug) of the Batum Oblast of the Russian Empire existing between 1878 and 1918. The district was eponymously named for its administrative center, the town of Batum (present-day Batumi), now part of Adjara within Georgia. The okrug bordered with the Artvin okrug in the south, the Ardahan okrug of the Kars Oblast to the southeast, the Tiflis Governorate to the northeast, the Kutaisi Governorate (of which it was a part in 1883–1903) to the north, and the Trebizond Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire to the west.
Administrative divisions
The prefectures (участки, uchastki) of the Batumi okrug were:
| Name | Administrative centre | 1912 population | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verkhne-Adzharskiy prefecture (Верхне-Аджарский участок) | Khulo | 21,778 | 1,127.85 square versts (1,283.56 km; 495.59 sq mi) |
| Goniyskiy prefecture (Гонийский участок) | Maradidi Verkhniye | 10,310 | 688.24 square versts (783.26 km; 302.42 sq mi) |
| Nizhne-Adzharskiy prefecture (Нижне-Аджарский участок) | Kedy (Keda) | 17,974 | 783.83 square versts (892.05 km; 344.42 sq mi) |
| Kintrishskiy prefecture (Кинтришский участок) | Komarovskoye | 17,961 | 654.43 square versts (744.78 km; 287.56 sq mi) |
Demographics
Russian Empire Census
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Batumi okrug had a population of 88,444 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 53,149 men and 35,295 women. The majority of the population indicated Georgian to be their mother tongue, with significant Russian, Armenian and Greek speaking minorities.
| Language | Native speakers | % |
|---|---|---|
| Georgian | 56,498 | 63.88 |
| Russian | 7,217 | 8.16 |
| Armenian | 7,120 | 8.05 |
| Greek | 4,650 | 5.26 |
| Turkish | 3,199 | 3.62 |
| Kurdish | 1,699 | 1.92 |
| Ukrainian | 1,637 | 1.85 |
| Jewish | 1,076 | 1.22 |
| Polish | 890 | 1.01 |
| Persian | 765 | 0.86 |
| Abkhazian | 687 | 0.78 |
| Mingrelian | 635 | 0.72 |
| German | 356 | 0.40 |
| Tatar | 350 | 0.40 |
| Imeretian | 341 | 0.39 |
| Lithuanian | 157 | 0.18 |
| Sartic | 156 | 0.18 |
| Belarusian | 76 | 0.09 |
| Avar-Andean | 56 | 0.06 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 47 | 0.05 |
| English | 38 | 0.04 |
| Ossetian | 28 | 0.03 |
| Romanian | 27 | 0.03 |
| Svan | 17 | 0.02 |
| Estonian | 11 | 0.01 |
| Other | 711 | 0.80 |
| ТОТАL | 88,444 | 100.00 |
Kavkazskiy kalendar
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Batumi okrug had a population of 85,397 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 47,532 men and 37,865 women, 61,347 of whom were the permanent population, and 24,050 were temporary residents:
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Georgians | 6,481 | 32.37 | 45,627 | 69.79 | 52,108 | 61.02 |
| Sunni Muslims | 75 | 0.37 | 14,163 | 21.66 | 14,238 | 16.67 |
| Russians | 4,825 | 24.10 | 3,394 | 5.19 | 8,219 | 9.62 |
| Armenians | 5,524 | 27.59 | 240 | 0.37 | 5,764 | 6.75 |
| Asiatic Christians | 1,097 | 5.48 | 1,078 | 1.65 | 2,175 | 2.55 |
| Other Europeans | 855 | 4.27 | 96 | 0.15 | 951 | 1.11 |
| Jews | 597 | 2.98 | 10 | 0.02 | 607 | 0.71 |
| Kurds | 8 | 0.04 | 544 | 0.83 | 552 | 0.65 |
| Shia Muslims | 386 | 1.93 | 25 | 0.04 | 411 | 0.48 |
| North Caucasians | 172 | 0.86 | 180 | 0.28 | 352 | 0.41 |
| Roma | 0 | 0.00 | 20 | 0.03 | 20 | 0.02 |
| TOTAL | 20,020 | 100.00 | 65,377 | 100.00 | 85,397 | 100.00 |
Notes
- ^
- Russian: Батумский округ, pre-reform orthography: Батумскій округъ, romanized: Batumskiy okrug [bətʊmskʲɪj ɐkrʊk]
- Georgian: ბათუმის ოკრუგი, romanized: batumis ok'rugi [b̥atʰumis okʼɾuɡi]
- ^ Before 1918, Azerbaijanis were generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred to Turkic-speaking Muslims of the South Caucasus. After 1918, with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and "especially during the Soviet era", the Tatar group identified itself as "Azerbaijani".
- ^ Primarily Turco-Tatars.
- ^ Primarily Tatars.
References
- ^ Tsutsiev 2014.
- ^ Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 23–28.
- ^ Кавказский календарь на 1913 год, pp. 144–147.
- ^ "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).
- ^ Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.
- ^ Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 182–185.
- ^ Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.
Bibliography
- Bournoutian, George A. (2018). Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-06260-2. OCLC 1037283914.
- Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971). The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520019843.
- Кавказский календарь на 1913 год [Caucasian calendar for 1913] (in Russian) (68th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1913. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022.
- Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
- Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus (PDF). Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300153088. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2023.