Ananyiv Uyezd was an administrative-territorial unit of the Kherson Governorate, with its center in the town of Ananyiv.
The uyezd was established by an imperial decree of 28 September (31 October) 1834, following a submission by the Bessarabian Governor-General. It prescribed: 1) to establish a new Ananyiv Uyezd within the boundaries indicated on the map (followed by a detailed description of the Ananyiv, Bobrynets, Odesa, and Tiraspol uyezds); 2) to establish the uyezd town in the village of Ananyevo.
In 1887, in Ananyiv Uyezd, besides the town of Ananyiv, there were 515 inhabited localities. The uyezd covered 7,958 square versts, and had a population of 216,995, including 109,398 males and 107,597 females. The uyezd contained the town of Ananyiv, 10 townlets, 52 villages, 256 hamlets, 13 German colonies, 14 settlements, 359 farmsteads, 38 estates, and 6 railway stations. The main occupation of the inhabitants was arable farming (sowing wheat, maize—especially among Moldovans—and barley). A significant part of the grain was purchased by Jews and exported abroad through Odesa. The main line of the South-Western Railways ran through the middle of the uyezd, and the Elisavetgrad branch of the same railway ran along its northern edge. Industry was insignificant.
Having vast deposits of red clay and sand, the people of Ananyiv created in the 19th century a major brickworks—a ceramic production line that manufactured bricks not only for the uyezd. This is why most old houses were built of red brick.