Semirechye Oblast

File:Gerb of Pishpek 1908.png

Сoat of arms of Pishpek

The Semirechye Oblast (Template:Lang-ru, literally "Seven Rivers land") was an oblast (province) of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern Kazakhstan and northeastern Kyrgyzstan. It was created out of the territories of the northern part of Khanate of Kokand that had been part of Kazakh Khanate. Its center was Verniy, now Almaty. It was founded in 1854 and was ruled as part of Governor-Generalship of the Steppes (before 1882 it was known as Governor-Generalship of the Western Siberia) between 1854 and 1867 and again between 1882 and 1899 and part of Russian Turkistan between 1867 and 1882 and again between 1899 and 1917. Russia seized the Zhetysu region in 1854<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and control over the region was recognized in the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881) between Russia and China.

Administrative division

As of 1897, the Semirechye Oblast was divided into 6 uyezds:

Uyezd	Uyezd city (pop.)	Area, sq versta	Population<ref name=demoscope>demoscope.ru 1897 census results.</ref>
Verniy	Verniy (22,744)	58330	223,883
Dzharkent	Dzharkent (16,094)	5160	122,636
Kopal	Kopal (6,183)	69100	136,421
Lepsinsk	Lepsinsk (3,230)	87080	180,829
Pishpek	Pishpek (6,615)	80480	176,577
Przhevalsk	Przhevalsk (8,108)	47760	147,517

Demographics

As of 1897, 987,863 people populated the oblast. Kazakhs constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of Russians and Taranchi. Total Turkic speaking were 878,209 (88,9%).

Ethnic groups in 1897

TOTAL	987,863	100%
Kazakhs	794,815	80,5%
Russians	76,839	7,8%
Taranchi	55,999	6,2%
Sart	14,895	1,5%
Chinese	14.130	1,4%

<ref>demoscope.ru 1897 census results, languages</ref>

See also

• Russian Turkestan
• Semirechye Cossacks
• Zhetysu