Novorossiya (from , ; literally New Russia) is an historical term of the Russian Empire denoting a region north of the Black Sea (presently part of Ukraine). It was formed as a new imperial province of Russia (Novorosiiskaia guberniia) in 1764 from military frontier regions along with parts of the southern Hetmanate in preparation for war with the Ottomans. It was further expanded by the annexation of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775. It at various times it encompassed the Moldavian region of Bessarabia, the modern Ukraine's regions of the Black Sea littoral (Prychornomoria), Zaporizhia, Tavria, the Azov Sea littoral (Pryazovia), the Tatar region of Crimea, the Nogai steppe at Kuban River, and the Circassian lands.