Turgay Oblast (Russian Empire)

Turgai (also spelled Turgay or Turgaj) was an oblast (province) in Imperial Russia, established on October 21, 1868. It was located in the central part of present-day Kazakhstan.

Turgay Oblast Тургайская область
Oblast of Russian Empire
1868–1920
The schematic map
Capital	Orenburg
History
• Established	1868
• Disestablished	1920
Political subdivisions	four uyezds

Its land area was 456,185 square kilometres (176,134 sq mi). The site of administration was located in Orenburg, outside the borders of the oblast, since there was no town within it suitable for accommodation of the administration.[1]

Governors

The chief authority of the Oblast was a military governor. The military governors of Turgay Oblast were:[2]

• 1869-1877 Lev Fyodorovich Balluzek (Louis Heinrich von Balluseck);
• 1877-1878 Alexander Konstantinovich Geynts (Heinz);
• 1878-1883 Alexander Petrovich Konstantinovich;
• 1883-1887 Alexander Petrovich Protsenko;
• 1887-1899 Yakov Feodorovich Barabash;
• 1900-1908 Asinkrit Asinkritovich Lomachevsky;
• 1908-1910 Ivan Mikhaylovich Strakhovsky;
• 1910-1917 Mikhail Mikhaylovich Eversman.

Demographics

As of 1897, 453,416 people populated the oblast. Kazakhs constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of Russians. Total Turkic speaking were 415,829 (91,7%).

Ethnic groups in 1897[3]

TOTAL	453,416	100%
Kazakhs	410,904	90,6%
Russians	30,438	6,7%

References

1. Тургайская область (in Russian). Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. 1890–1907. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
2. Н. Ф. Самохвалов, ed. (2003). Губернии Российской Империи. История и руководители. 1708-1917. Moscow: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation. p. 353.
3. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". Demoscope.ru. 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2016-02-18.

• Kropotkin, Peter; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Turgai" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 414–415.