Guberniya (Russian: губе́рния, Russian pronunciation: [guˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə]) (also gubernia, guberniia, gubernya) was a major aministrative subdivision of the Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor or (губернатор, gubernator), a word borrowed from either Latin gubernator or Greek kybernates. Sometimes the term "guberniya" was informally used to refer to the office of a governor.