Bessarabia Governorate

Bessarabia Governorate Бессарабская губерния
Governorate
Coat of arms
Location in the Russian Empire
Country	Russian Empire
Established	1873
Abolished	1918
Capital	Kishinev
Area
• Total	45,632.42 km2 (17,618.78 sq mi)
Highest elevation (Bălănești Hill)	430 m (1,410 ft)
Population  (1897)
• Total	1,935,412
• Density	42/km2 (110/sq mi)
• Urban	15.16%
• Rural	84.84%

The Bessarabia Governorate^[a] was a province (guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with its administrative centre in Kishinev (Chișinău). It consisted of an area of 45,632.42 square kilometres (17,618.78 sq mi) and a population of 1,935,412 inhabitants. The Bessarabia Governorate bordered the Podolia Governorate to the north, the Kherson Governorate to the east, the Black Sea to the south, Romania to the west, and Austria to the northwest. It roughly corresponds to what is now most of Moldova and some parts of Chernivtsi and Odesa Oblasts of Ukraine.

It included the eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia along with the neighboring Ottoman-ruled territories annexed by Russia by the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812). The Governorate was disbanded in 1917, with the establishment of Sfatul Țării, a national assembly which proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic in December 1917. The latter united with Romania in April 1918.

Around 65% of the territory of the former governorate now belongs to the Republic of Moldova (including the breakaway region of Transnistria); around 35% belongs to Ukraine.
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