Russian Empire Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a dictionary of place names. It describes towns and villages; townships and counties; provinces; sizes and population; and rivers, mountains, and other geographical features. Gazetteers usually include only the names of places that existed at the time the gazetteer was published. You can use a gazetteer to find the places where your family lived and to determine both the civil and religious jurisdictions over those places.

List of Populated Places in Imperial Russia: Spiski Naselennykh Mest Rossiiskoi Imperii (Списки населенных мест Российской Имперіи)
The Spiski Naselennykh Mest Rossiiskoi Imperii, often referred to as simply the Spiski, is the foundational gazetteer for the Russian Empire. The gazetteer is organized by locality - first by gubernia (province), then by uyezd (county), and finally by the city, village, colony, or town. Each volume contains a locality index at the back of the book. In order to use this gazetteer effectively, you'll need to know which gubernia your ancestor's hometown was located in.

There are nearly 100 gazetteers for various gubernia ranging from the 1850-1870s included in the Spiski. Many are available at the Family History Library on microfiche (Fiche 6,002,224 /420 microfiche, click here to see the catalog entry page), and in recent years, many have been digitized and are available online. Use this Wiki page to help you find an online copy of the Spiski for your gubernia.

How to Use the Spiski
For help learning how to use and read the Spiski, please refer to the Spiski Gazetteer Online Russia How to Guide.

Accessing the Spiski: Online Availability
To access the gazetteer, locate your gubernia from the list below, and click on the Cyrillic form of the name.

European Russia (Европейская Россия)

 * Arkhangel'sk - Архангельская г.
 * Astrakhan - Астраханская г.
 * Bessarabia - Бессарабская г.
 * Vilenski - Виленская г. *this is an alternate gazetteer*