Qazax


Qazax is a city in and the capital of the Qazax Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 20,900.

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.
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.
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.

Geography

Demographics

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.

Education

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.