The System of Public Education in Astrakhan Governorate in the second half of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Part 1

This set of articles relies on reference and memorandum books from the period 1873-1917 to explore the development of the system of public education in Astrakhan Governorate. This is the first piece in the set. It examines the region's geographic, economic, and social characteristics and provides an insight into the state of affairs in its education sector as at 1873, i.e. the study's lower chronological limit. The principal sources used in this study are the Memorandum Books for Astrakhan Governorate, relevant statistical descriptions, and relevant laws and regulations. Use was also made of relevant archival documents from the National Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan, Russian Federation). These sources contain official correspondence on the organization of the educational process in the region. Methodologically, use was made of sets of historical (historical-systematic, historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical-genetic, and historical-statistical) and general (synthetic analysis, content analysis, and systems analysis) research methods. The system of public education in Astrakhan Governorate was not as advanced as that in many other regions of Russia. There were difficulties, especially in the early 19^th century, associated with the Russification of the region. As at 1873, the governorate had 38 educational institutions with a combined enrollment of 2,395 (1,702 boys and 693 girls). The period 1837-1873 was a time marked by brisk development in the region's female education sector, when its boy to girl student ratio changed from 8.8:1 to 2.45:1.