1) Type of country subdivision 
An administrative division in tsarist Russia, the broad equivalent of states. Each guberniya was overseen by a gubernator (governor) on behalf of the tsar.
(from the article `Russia`) ...the reforms divided the empire`s territory into provinces of roughly equal population; the division paid heed to military considerations. Each of ... In order to create a more flexible system of control by the central power, Russia was territorially divided in 1708 into eight guberny, or ... [2 related ...
(in the Soviet Union) an administrative division of the volosts, smaller than a district. · (in Russia before 1917) an administrative division equivalent to the province.