Batum Oblast


The Batum Oblast was an oblast 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.

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. Significant minorities included Armenians, Russians, and Caucasus Greeks.

Ethnic groups in 1897Includes population figures for the Batum and Artvin Okrugs, which would form the Batum Oblast by 1917. and

TOTAL144,584100%
Kartvelians63,01243,5%
Turks44,66730,8%
Armenians14,93910,3%
Russians7,5325,2%
Greeks4,7173,2%