Zemstvo Issues

Zemstvos Grouped by Region

Zemstvos were issued by local authorities, with each local authority being a subordinate part of a wider governing region.  The easiest US analogy is to consider each zemstvo issuing authority as a county, and each governing region being akin to a state.

Not all regions and not all local authorities issued zemstvos, with most of the zemstvo issuing regions being in European Russia (ie west of the Ural mountain divide that marks the theoretical boundary between Europe and Asia).

It may be interesting or useful to be able to conveniently see what other nearby authorities were also issuing zemstvos, and to compare and contrast the differences in regional design styles.  For this purpose, we have created this list which orders the zemstov issuing authorities by region rather than alphabetically.

In the table below, you will see a small thumbnail map of European Russia for each region, with the relevant regional area highlighted.  If you click on the thumbnail map, you'll get a larger regional map of that particular region.

For a scale that applies to these expanded regional maps, click here (the scale is the same for all of the expanded maps).  Note that the scale's reference to statute miles refers to "regular" miles (each of 5280 ft, 1760 yds), and its reference to geographical miles refers to nautical miles - 6080 ft per nautical mile.

A map of the entire European part of Russia on the same scale as the expanded regional maps can be downloaded from our Map Page.

Note - this is a 2.4MB image Regions of Imperial Russia that issued Zemstvo Stamps This map shows the various regions which had zemstvos issuing stamps within them. Note that in some cases large regions had only one or two offices that actually issued stamps, so the map is a bit misleading.  I find it particularly interesting to note the two small regions surrounded by zemstvo issuing regions that apparently never issued stamps themselves! You can click on the thumbnail map to load a large map of all of Western Russia with these regions highlighted.  It is on the same scale as the detail regional maps below. Important note :  This shows only those regions that had offices within them that issued adhesive stamps.  Some offices and regions carried mail for free, or used preprinted postal stationery, or wrappers, or some other form of accounting, and those offices and regions are not considered within this study of zemstvo adhesive postage.
Bessarabia		Samara
	Orgheef Soroki Yassy		Bugulma Buguruslan Buzuluk
Chernigof		St Petersburg
	Kozelets Oster		Gdof Luga Novaya Ladoga Shlisselburg
Kharkof		Saratov
	Akhtyirka Kharkof Lebedian		Atkarsk Balashof Khvalynsk Kuznetsk
Kazan		Simbirsk
	Chistopol Kazan Lahishef Tetyushy		Alatyir Syzran
Kherson		Smolensk
	Alexandria Ananief Kherson Odessa Tiraspol Yelisavetgrad		Dukhovstschina Krasny Smolensk
Kostroma		Tambov
	Kologrif Vetluga		Borisoglyebsk Lebedian Morshansk Shatsk Tambof
Kursk		Tavrik
	Dmitrief Lgof Shchigry Sudzha		Berdyansk Dnieprovsk Melitopol
Moscow		Territory of the Don
	Bogorodsk Bronnitzy Dmitrof Kolomna Podolsk		Cherkassy Donez Rostof
Nizhni-Novgorod		Tver
	Ardatof Arzamas Vasil		Byezhetsk Korcheva Ostashkof Rzhef Tver Vessiegonsk
Novgorod		Tula
	Bielozersk Borovichy Cherepovets Demiansk Kirillof Novgorod Staraya Russa Tikhvin Ustiuzhna Valdai		Chern Kashira Krapivna Tula
Olonets		Ufa
	Petrozavodsk Pudozh		Belebey
Orel		Viatka
	Livny Maloarkhangelsk Yelets		Glazof Kotelnich Malmyzh Nolinsk Sarapul Urzhum Viatka
Penza		Vladimir
	Chembary Penza Saransk		Pereslaf
Perm		Vologda
	Cherdyn Irbit Kamyishlof Krasnoufimsk Kungur Osa Okhansk Perm Shadrinsk Solikamsk Verkhotur Yekaterinburg		Griazovets Kadnikof Nicolsk Totma Ustsysolsk Veliki Ustyug Velsk Yarensk
Poltava		Voronezh
	Gadiach Kobelaky Konstantinograd Kremenchug Lokhvitza Lubny Pereyaslaf Piriatin Poltava Priluky Zienkof Zolotonosha		Bobrof Boghuchary Ostrogozhsk Zadonsk Zemliansk
Pskof		Yekaterinoslav
	Kholm Novorzhef Opochka Ostrof Porkhof Pskof		Bakhmut Mariupol Novomoskofsk Pavlograd Verkhnednieprovsk Yekaterinoslaf
Ryazan
	Dankof Kassimof Ryazhsk Ryazan Sapozhok Skopin Spassk Yegoryevsk