Chernihiv Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit of the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian SSR, existing from 1918 to 1925. It was inherited from the Russian system of territorial subdivisions that existed prior to World War I. Specifically, Chernigov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of the left-bank Ukraine and was officially created in 1802 from Malorossiya Governorate with its capital in Chernigov (Chernihiv). Little Russia Governorate was transformed into the General Government of Little Russia and consisted of Chernigov Governorate, Poltava Governorate, and later Kharkov Governorate.
Imperial census of 1897.
The Ukrainian State, sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate, was an anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine from 29 April to 14 December 1918.
Pavlo Skoropadskyi, Hetman of Ukraine
Skoropadskyi inspecting troops from the "Greycoat" division