Qazax

For the administrative division, see Qazax Rayon.
For the country, see Kazakhstan.
For the ethnic group, see Kazakh people.

Coordinates: 41°05′36″N 45°21′58″E / 41.09333°N 45.36611°E / 41.09333; 45.36611

Qazax
Qazax
City & Municipality

Coat of arms
Qazax
Coordinates: 41°05′36″N 45°21′58″E / 41.09333°N 45.36611°E / 41.09333; 45.36611
Country  Azerbaijan
Rayon Qazax
Established 1909
AreaAday tribes
 • Total 10 km2 (4 sq mi)
Elevation 381 m (1,250 ft)
Population (2014)[1]
 • Total 35,102
 • Density 3,500/km2 (9,100/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+4 (AZT)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+5 (AZT)
Area code(s) +994 2229

Qazax (قازاخ, Газах, also known as Gazakh or Qazakh) is a city in and the capital of the Qazax Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 20,900.[2]

History

In antiquity, Qazakh District was part of the province of Utik, a part of the Kingdom of Armenia until 387 AD. Greco-Roman historians from the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD state that Utik was a province of Armenia, with the Kura River separating Armenia and Albania.[3][4][5]

In the 18th century, Qazax was the capital of the Qazax sultanate. During the Russian Empire, the city was the administrative center of the Gazakh uezd of the Elisabethpol Governorate. It is situated 10 km from the Ağstafa station of the Transcaucasus Railway. At the cusp of the Armenian Genocide during the years 1905-1906, many Armenian homes were burned and looted as well as the Armenian school and church. Many Armenian inhabitants as a result fled to Tbilisi and other Armenian populated areas.[6]

In 1930, Qazax became the administrative center of the Qazax Rayon of Soviet Azerbaijan as the region was awarded to Soviet Azerbaijan by the early Bolsheviks. Khazakh was passed to Azerbaijan SSR without much noise or resistance while it is hard to overestimate its strategic importance for the modern day Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey regional communication and energy projects.

Economy

The economy of Qazax is partially agricultural, partially tourism-based, with some industries in operation.

Culture

Sports

The city has one professional football team, Göyazan Qazakh, currently competing in the second-flight of Azerbaijani football, the Azerbaijan First Division.

Transport

Public transport

Qazakh has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Ministry of Transportation.

Notable residents

Some of the city's many prestigious residents include: poets Samad Vurgun, Molla Panah Vagif, Mirvarid Dilbazi and Nusrat Kasamanli, scholar Molla Vali Vidadi, lieutenant-general of the Russian imperial army Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, writer Ismayil Shykhly and wrestler Hasan Aliyev.

References

  1. ↑ The state statistical committee of the Azerbaijan Republic Archived November 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Strabo, Geography, 11.14.4, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198&loc=11.14.1
  4. ↑ Pliny the Elder, "The Natural history ", 6.39: "..the tribe of Albanians settled on the Caucasian mountains, reaches ... the river Kir making border of Armenia and Iberia"
  5. ↑ Claudius Ptolemy, "Geography" 5.12: "Armenia is located from the north to a part of Colchida, Iberia and Albania along the line, which goes through the river Kir (Kura)"
  6. ↑ Ա-Դօ, Հայ-թուրքական ընդհարումները Կովկասում (1905-1906 թ.), Երևան, 1907, էջ 360
  7. ↑ Brian C. Collins, Historical dictionary of Azerbaijan, USA, Scarecrow Press, 1999

www.qazax.net/en/aIndex.htm

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.