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The 'administrative division of Congress Poland' changed several times. Immediately after its creation, 1815-1816, the Congress Kingdom of Poland was divided into departments, a relic from the times of the French-dominated Duchy of Warsaw. In 1816 the administrative divisions were reformed into the more traditionally Polish voivodeships, obwóds and powiats. In 1837, in the aftermath of the November Uprising earlier that decade, the administrative division was reformed once again, bringing Congress Poland closer to the structure of the Russian Empire, with the introduction of guberniyas (governorate, Polish spelling ''gubernia''), gradually transforming Congress Poland into the "Vistulan Country". Over the next several decades, various smaller reforms were carried out, either changing the smaller administrative units or merging/splitting various guberniyas.

Contents
1816
1837
1842
1844
1867
1893
1912
External links

1816

On January 16, 1816 the administrative division was reformed from the departments of the Duchy of Warsaw into the more traditionally Polish voivodeships, obwóds and powiats.
There were 8 voivodeships:

★ Augustów Voivodeship (capital in Suwałki)

★ Kalisz Voivodeship

★ Kraków Voivodeship (despite the name of this province, the city of Kraków was not included; Kraków was a free city until the Kraków Uprising of 1846; the capital was first Miechów, then Kielce).

★ Lublin Voivodeship

★ Mazowsze Voivodeship (capital in Warsaw)

★ Płock Voivodeship

★ Podlasie Voivodeship (capital in Siedlce)

★ Sandomierz Voivodeship (capital in Radom)

1837

On 7 March 1837 the Congress Poland voivodeships were renamed as 8 guberniyas (governorates):

★ Augustów Governorate (with capital in Łomża)

★ Kalisz Governorate (with capital in Kalisz)

★ Kraków Governorate (with capital in Kielce)

★ Lublin Governorate (with capital in Lublin)

★ Masovia Governorate (with capital in Warsaw)

★ Płock Governorate (with capital in Płock)

★ Podlasie Governorate (with capital in Siedlce)

★ Sandomierz Governorate (with capital in Radom)

1842

In 1842 powiats were renamed okręgs, and obwóds were renamed powiats.

1844

In 1844 several governorates were merged with others, and some others renamed. 5 governorates remained:

★ Augustów Governorate

★ Lublin Governorate (roughly consisting of the former Lublin and Podlasie Governorates)

★ Płock Governorate

★ Radom Governorate (roughly the former Kraków and Sandomierz Governorates)

★ Warsaw Governorate (roughly the former Masovia and Kalisz Governorates)

1867

The 1867 reform, initiated after the failure of the January Uprising, was designed to tie the Congress Kingdom (now ''de facto'' the Vistulan Country) more tightly to the administration structure of the Russian Empire. It dividied larger governorates into smaller ones and introduced a new lower level entity, gminas. This time 19 governorates were formed:

★ Kalisz Governorate - Калишская (Kalishskaya)

★ Kielce Governorate - Келецкая (Keletskaya) - split off from Radom Governorate

★ Lublin Governorate - Люблинская (Lublinskaya)

★ Łomża Governorate - Ломжинская (Lomzhinskaya) - split off from the former Augustów Governorate

★ Piotrków Governorate - Петроковская (Petrokovskaya) - split off from parts of Radom and Warsaw Governorates

★ Płock Governorate - Плоцкая (Plotskaya)

★ Radom Governorate - Радомская (Radomskaya)

★ Siedlce Governorate - Седлецкая (Sedletskaya)

★ Suwałki Governorate - Сувалкская (Suvalskaya) - the former Augustów Governorate less the new Łomża Governorate)

★ Warsaw Governorate - Варшавская (Varshavskaya)

1893

A minor reform of 1893 transferred some territory from the Płock and Łomża Governorates to Warsaw Governorate.

1912

The 1912 reform created a new governorate - Chełm Governorate - from parts of the Siedlce and Lublin Governorates. However this was split off from the Vistulan Country and made an integral part of the Russian Empire.

External links

★ What is the history of the gubernias of Poland?

★ Zygmunt Gloger, Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski, Rodział 15: W wieku XIX