Administrative division of Congress Poland in 1830. This map represents the period 1816-1837 and is mostly valid for the period of up to 1844.Administrative division of Congress Poland, 1907. This map represents the period 1893-1912, and is mostly valid for the most part for 1867-1914.Historical map showing the administrative division of Congress Poland, 1831.Historical map showing the Western governorates of the Russian Empire, 1902 (including those of Congress Poland).
Congress Poland was subdivided several times from its creation in 1815 until its dissolution in 1918. Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") was divided into departments, a relic from the times of the French-dominated Duchy of Warsaw. In 1816 the administrative divisions were changed to forms that were more traditionally Polish: voivodeships, obwóds and powiats. Following the November Uprising, the subdivisions were again changed in 1837 to bring the subdivisions closer to the structure of the Russian Empire when guberniyas (governorates) were introduced. In this way, Congress Poland was gradually transformed into the "Vistulan Country". Over the next several decades, various smaller reforms were carried out, either changing the smaller administrative units or merging/splitting various guberniyas.
Subdivisions in modern Lithuania
Congress Poland in 1914
Today, almost all of the subdivisions of Congress Poland may be found, in similar territorial areas, in modern Poland. A few, roughly in the northern panhandle of Congress Poland, are to be found in modern Lithuania. They are:
On January 16, 1816, the areas of administrative jurisdiction were reformed from the departments of the Duchy of Warsaw into the more traditionally Polish voivodeships, obwóds and powiats. Eight voivodeships were created:
The 1867 reform, initiated after the failure of the January Uprising, was designed to tie Congress Poland (now de facto the Vistulan Country) more tightly to the administration structure of the Russian Empire. It divided larger governorates into smaller ones. A new lower level entity, gmina, was introduced. This time ten governorates were formed:
