Akhalkalaki uezd

The Akhalkalaki uezd[lower-alpha 1] was a county (uezd) of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative centre in Akhalkalak (present-day Akhalkalaki).[1] The county bordered the Gori uezd to the north, the Borchaly uezd to the east, the Alexandropol uezd of the Erivan Governorate and the Kars and Ardahan okrugs of the Kars Oblast to the south, and the Akhaltsikhe uezd to the west. The area of the county roughly corresponded to the contemporary Samtskhe–Javakheti region of Georgia.

Akhalkalaki uezd
Ахалкалакскій уѣздъ
Uezd
Coat of arms of Akhalkalaki uezd
Coat of arms
Location in the Tiflis Governorate
Location in the Tiflis Governorate
CountryRussian Empire
ViceroyaltyCaucasus
GovernorateTiflis
Established1874
Abolished1930
CapitalAkhalkalak
(present-day Akhalkalaki)
Area
 • Total2,739.32 km2 (1,057.66 sq mi)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total107,173
 • Density39/km2 (100/sq mi)
 • Urban
6.58%
 • Rural
93.42%

History

The territory of the Akhalkalaki uezd, then part of the Akhaltsikhe uezd, entered into the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828. By 1874, the Akhkalaki uezd was detached from the hitherto larger Akhaltsikhe uezd, becoming a constituent county of the Tiflis Governorate.[1]

Following the Russian Revolution, the Akhalkalaki uezd was incorporated into the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia, however, it was strongly disputed by the Democratic Republic of Armenia which also claimed the county on the grounds of history and ethnography.[1]

As a result of the Ottoman occupation of the uezd, of the initial 80,000 Armenians in 1918, 30,000 died whilst the surviving 40,000 still in the district were affected by famine and concubinage.[2]

Lord Curzon during the Paris Peace Conference discussions on the fate of the independent Transcaucasian republics assessed the ethnographic situation in the southwestern uezds of the Tiflis Governorate:[3]

On the grounds of nationality, therefore, these districts ought to belong to Armenia, but they command the heart of Georgia strategically, and on the whole it would seem equitable to assign them to Georgia, and give their Armenian inhabitants the option of emigration into the wide territories assigned to the Armenians towards the south-west.

Administrative divisions

The subcounties (uchastoks) of the Akhalkalaki uezd in 1913 were as follows:[4]

Name 1912 population Area
Baraletskiy uchastok (Баралетскій участокъ) 51,061 895 square versts (1,019 km2; 393 sq mi)
Bogdanovskiy uchastok (Богдановскій участокъ) 41,331 1,512 square versts (1,721 km2; 664 sq mi)

Demographics

Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Akhalkalaki uezd had a population of 72,709 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 37,903 men and 34,806 women. The majority of the population indicated Armenian to be their mother tongue, with significant Tatar,[lower-alpha 2] Georgian, and Russian speaking minorities.[7]

Linguistic composition of the Akhalkalaki uezd in 1897[7]
Language Native speakers %
Armenian 52,539 72.26
Tatar[lower-alpha 2] 6,572 9.04
Georgian 6,448 8.87
Russian 5,155 7.09
Kurdish 810 1.11
Turkish 296 0.41
Ukrainian 286 0.39
Jewish 211 0.29
Polish 145 0.20
Lithuanian 87 0.12
Greek 75 0.10
German 40 0.06
Belarusian 12 0.02
Avar-Andean 6 0.01
Ossetian 4 0.01
Chechen 3 0.00
Mingrelian 3 0.00
Persian 3 0.00
Romanian 3 0.00
Other 11 0.02
TOTAL 72,709 100.00

Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Akhalkalaki uezd had a population of 107,173 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 56,140 men and 51,033 women, 106,307 of whom were the permanent population, and 866 were temporary residents:[8]

Nationality Urban Rural TOTAL
Number % Number % Number %
Armenians 6,151 87.19 76,624 76.53 82,775 77.23
Georgians 265 3.76 10,039 10.03 10,304 9.61
Russians 429 6.08 7,113 7.10 7,542 7.04
Sunni Muslims[lower-alpha 3] 0 0.00 5,431 5.42 5,431 5.07
Kurds 0 0.00 904 0.90 904 0.84
Jews 204 2.89 0 0.00 204 0.19
Other Europeans 6 0.09 7 0.01 13 0.01
TOTAL 7,055 100.00 100,118 100.00 107,173 100.00

See also

Notes
    • Russian: Ахалкала́кскій уѣ́здъ, romanized: Akhalkaláksky uyézd
    • Georgian: ახალქალაქის მაზრა, romanized: akhalkalakis mazra
    • Armenian: Ախալքալաքի գավառ, romanized: Axalk̕alak̕i gavaṙ
  2. Before 1918, Azerbaijanis were generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred to Turkic-speaking Muslims of the South Caucasus. After 1918, with the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and "especially during the Soviet era", the Tatar group identified itself as "Azerbaijani".[5][6]
  3. Primarily Turco-Tatars.[9]

References
  1. Tsutsiev 2014.
  2. Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 151–152. ISBN 0-520-01805-2. OCLC 238471.
  3. Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 267. ISBN 0-520-01805-2. OCLC 238471.
  4. Кавказский календарь на 1913 год, pp. 164–175.
  5. Bournoutian 2018, p. 35 (note 25).
  6. Tsutsiev 2014, p. 50.
  7. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  8. Кавказский календарь на 1917 год, pp. 206–213.
  9. Hovannisian 1971, p. 67.

Bibliography

41°24′20″N 43°29′10″E

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