Vilna Governorate

Vilna Governorate
Location in the Russian Empire
CountryRussian Empire
KraiNorthwestern
Established1795
Abolished1918
CapitalVilnius
Area
 • Total
41,907.9 km2 (16,180.7 sq mi)
Highest elevation293.84 m (964.0 ft)
Population
 (1897)
 • Total
1,591,207
 • Density37.9691/km2 (98.3396/sq mi)
 • Urban
12.44%
 • Rural
87.56%

The Vilna Governorate was a province (guberniya) of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire that existed from 1795 to 1918. Established after the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it encompassed territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was one of the administrative divisions created by the Russian Empire to replace the institutions of the dissolved Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In 1897, the governorate covered an area of 41,907.9 square kilometres (16,180.7 mi2) and had a population of 1,591,207 inhabitants. It bordered the following governorates: Minsk to the south, Grodno to the southwest, Suwałki to the west, Kovno and Courland to the north, and Vitebsk to the east. Its capital, Vilnius, also served as the seat of the Vilna Governorate-General, which existed until 1912.