Orenburg Governorate

Orenburg Governorate (Оренбургская губерния) was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. Its capital in 1797–1802 and 1865–1928 was Orenburg, and Ufa in 1802–1865.

The governorate was created in 1744 from the lands annexed from Siberian and Astrakhan Governorates. In 1782, the governorate, along with of  were transformed into Ufa Viceroyalty, which was divided into Ufa and Orenburg Oblasts. In 1796, Ufa Viceroyalty was renamed Orenburg Governorate, and in 1865 it was split in two—a smaller Orenburg Governorate, and Ufa Governorate.

In 1919, Chelyabinsk Governorate was split off from Orenburg Governorate, and in 1928 the governorate was merged into a newly created Middle Volga Oblast.

Administrative division
After the creation of Ufa Governorate in 1865, Orenburg Governorate consisted of the following uyezds (administrative centres in parentheses):
 * Verkhneuralsky Uyezd (Verkhneuralsk)
 * Orenburgsky Uyezd (Orenburg)
 * Orsky Uyezd (Orsk)
 * Troitsky Uyezd (Troitsk)
 * Chelyabinsky Uyezd (Chelyabinsk)

Notable people

 * Nikolay Anisimov (1877–1931), major general of the White Army
 * Gury Marchuk, (1925–2013) Soviet scientist
 * Maurice Tillet, (1903–1954) Russian-French professional wrestler