Lankaran District


Lankaran is a rayon. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Lankaran. Lankaran district was established as an administrative district on August 8, 1930. The territory of the district is 1,539 km2, with 66,700 hectares covering dry areas. There are 2 towns, 8 settlements and 83 villages in the Lankaran district. The distance from Baku to the regional center is 268 km.

History

indicate that people have lived in the region since at least the Bronze Age. The area around Lankaran has fertile soil, rich water reserves and a humid subtropical climate with a maximum annual precipitation of 1,600 to 1,800 mm, the highest precipitation in Azerbaijan, lending to abundant agriculture, cattle-breeding, gardening, fishing, bee-keeping and silk production. Blacksmith, copper-smith, pottery and other trades have long been well established too. The area's development was also aided by its location as a point of communication between ancient empires, leading to caravan trade funnelled along the Caspian Sea coast.
Between 1747 and 1813, Lankaran was the main city of the Talysh Khanate. Following the 1813 Gulistan Treaty, the northern area of the khanate was occupied by Russia, and the remainder was seized in the final Russo-Persian war of 1826-1828. The 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay left the area within the Russian empire and the khanate was abolished. During the 19th century, Lankaran exported rice, silk, vegetables, wood and fish to Russia. During the 20th century the tea-cultivation and processing industry became important in the rayon.
The area was briefly the centre of a Bolshevik-inspired Mughan Soviet Republic during 1919. History repeated itself somewhat in 1993. During the period of instability that followed Azerbaijan's 1991 independence from the USSR, Lankaran and surrounding rayons were briefly declared the Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, but this only survived between June and August 1993. Today the region is an integral part of the Azerbaijan Republic.
The rayon's tea industry struggled post-independence due to increased competition from exports and the results of land re-distribution: the break-up of Soviet-era collective farms into small personal plots having rendered most tea-cultivation unprofitable. The rayon also suffered severely from the rising level of the Caspian Sea, most notably at Narimanabad where many waterfront properties were washed away.

Geography

The region has a vast area of national parks, where a variety of fauna and flora are preserved. Gizil-Agach State Reserve hosts over 250 kinds of plants, 30 species of fish and more than 220 kinds of birds. Lankaran is also known for Parrotia persica, or ironwood. It is naturally grown in the region and could be seen in Hirkan National Park. Local myth has it that it is the only wood that sinks in water, hence the name. Historically it has been used for heating, since it burns for a long time and is not easily extinguished. The Persian leopard subspecies of the leopard, lives in the national park as well.

Climate

Water and sewerage

Some measures have been undertaken to improve the drink water supply of the city and to reconstruct the city's sewage system. The reconstruction of the Lankaran water supply and sewerage system began in August 2011,1 Water Purification System, 1 water reservoir with a capacity of 10000 m3, 252 km of water lines with different diameter, 12,000 Smartcard water meters, 21 km of sewer line have been installed and 12 km of microtunnel layout are planned in Khanbulan village of Lankaran by the company.

Power supply

10 Smartcard electricity meters, 154 electronic single phase electricity meters were installed and 191 defective meters were changed during 3 months of 2017 in Lenkaran district. Totally 16892 Smart card electricity meters have been installed in the district. Currently, government carry out work of energy sales and exploitation to settlements and villages of district including 47,914 individual subscribers, 46 refugees, 3052 trade and services, 891 production, transport and construction, 155 budgets and 157 other consumer groups.

Gas supply

During the three months of 2017, some measures have been undertaken for providing residential areas and companies with gas supply in the city. Thus, 43,565 people were provided with natural gas, 252 km of water lines with different diameter were set up, 426 gas problem detected and eliminated 153 gas meters were replaced, 291 defective meters were changed with new ones. At present, 65 settlements including Lankaran and Liman city have been provided with gas, which means 90.1% of the total people of the district.

Districts

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were 422 Muslim homes in the city. After the Gulustan contract in 1813, the number of population of Lankaran decreased. This is related to colonial policy of Tsardom of Russia. After the occupation of the Lankaran khanate, Armenians began to come for living here. In 1832 there were 168 Armenians living in Lankaran. In the year 1849, there were 1999 residents including 125 Bey, 20 Mirza, 46 Sayyids, 56 Mullahs, 92 temporary residents, 699 maafs, 168 ethnic, 66 Armenians and 114 Russians in 1849. According to official information on January 1, 2012, the population of Lankaran is 52,581 people.
According to the State Statistics Committee, as of 2018, the population of city recorded 226,900 persons, which increased by 35,600 persons from 191,300 persons in 2000. 113,900 of total population are men, 113,000 are women. More than 25,4 percent of the population consists of young people and teenagers aged 14–29.
Region2000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018
Lankaran town191,3192,5193,6194,8196,0197,8199,6201,4203,1205,2207,5209,9213,2215,8218,2220,8223,1225,2226,9
urban population77,577,677,777,980,280,680,881,182,382,783,383,984,785,385,886,587,287,888,2
rural population113,8114,9115,9116,9115,8117,2118,8120,3120,8122,5124,2126,0128,5130,5132,4134,3135,9137,4138,7

Lankaran district is the largest Talysh region in terms of population. The total population is 200,344 people, 90% of which are ethnically and linguistically Talysh. It includes the cities of Lankaran and Liman, as well as six other cities and eighty-five villages. These are large centers of trade and culture among the Talysh.

Education

There are 51 kindergartens, 81 educational institutions, pedagogical, medical and musical schools in Lankaran. 87 clubs, 94 libraries, State Drama Theater, museum, branch of Azerbaijan Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Subtropical Crops operate.
Since 1992 Lankaran State University, Azerbaijan National EA Regional Science Center since 2006 have been established. Lankaran branch of Azerbaijan Research Institute of Horticulture and Subtropical Crops of ANAS, Zona Experimental Station, Lankaran branch of the Institute of Improvement of Teachers, Lankaran Humanitarian College, Medical School, Children's Art School operate in Lankaran.

Press and Mass Media

"Lankaran" newspaper belonging to Lankaran City Executive Authority has been operating since 1991. Independent newspapers such as "Prizma", "Şəfəq", literary magazines such as "Söz", "Məşəl", radio broadcasting editing since 1957, Lankaran television has been operating since 2004.

Culture

cultural and educational institutions in Lankaran operate under the direction of Lankaran Regional Culture and Tourism Department. At present, there are 1 Heydar Aliyev Center, 2 museums, 1 Central Library and its 70 branches, City Cultural Center named after Q.Valiyev and 66 cultural institutions, 2 children's music schools, 1 children art school, 1 State Painting Gallery. Based on the No.132 Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 21 mainly archeological monument, 53 local architectural monuments, 2 sculpture monument are registered and protected by government.

The Lankaran History and Ethnography Museum

The Lankaran History and Ethnography Museum consists of 3 floors and 12 rooms. The museum is located in the house of Mir Ahmed Khan, now a historical monument built in 1913. Since 1978, the Khan House has been operating as a Lankaran History and Ethnography Museum. There are more than 6500 exhibits reflecting Lankaran's ancient history, culture, national-moral values and today in the museum. The exposition of the museum consists of six sections: nature, ancient history, medieval history, new era, recent period, modern era.

Hazi Aslanov House Museum

The house museum of the Hero of the Soviet Union, a prominent military commander and the major general Hazi Aslanov, was opened on May 9, 1969. The first director of the museum was Khaver Aslanova who is H.Aslanov's wife. In 1983 the exposition of the museum was expanded and reconstructed. The exposition consists of five rooms. In 2011, the museum was completely renovated. The museum consists of 5 sections and rooms. First room is the ethnographic room reflects the environment where he was born and dying. The things in this room belong to mother of H.Aslanov. His sister Asiya Aslanova gave them to the museum. Second room is dedicated to the years of education and military service of him. The third room is dedicated to the fights for Moscow and Stalingrad. The fourth room is dedicated to the fight for the Primorye and Belarus. Last room is commemorative hall, Different presents to the house, the battle clothes on the day of his death, souvenirs, his albums and books are protected in this room.

Notable natives