Batum Oblast

ბათუმის ობლასტი Батумская область Batum Oblast
Oblast of Russian Empire
← 1878–1918 →
Coat of arms
Capital		Batum
History
•	Treaty of San Stefano	20 September 1878
•	Kutais Governorate	12 June 1883
•	Kutais Governorate	17 March 1903
•	Proclamation of PNGSC	1918
Area
•	1897	61,092 km2 (23,588 sq mi)
Population
•	1897	144,584
	Density	2.4 /km2  (6.1 /sq mi)

The Batum Oblast was an oblast (province) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with the maritime city of Batum as its center. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southwestern Georgia. It was created out of the territories of the former Ottoman Sanjak of Batum (occupied by the Ottomans since the late 16th century).

Demographics

As of 1897, the total population of the Batum and Artvin Okrugs, which would later form the Batum Oblast, was 144,584. Kartvelians, including primarily the Adjarians, then-mostly Muslim Georgian group, constituted 43.5% of the population. Turks constituted the second largest group at 30.8% and were mostly concentrated in the Artvin area (today the Artvin Province of Turkey due to the Treaty of Kars). Significant minorities included Armenians, Russians, and Caucasus Greeks.

References

Coordinates: 41°38′45″N 41°38′30″E / 41.6458°N 41.6417°E / 41.6458; 41.6417