Kalbajar District | |
|---|---|
 The city of Kalbajar, August 2025 | |
 Map of Azerbaijan showing Kalbajar District | |
| Country |  Azerbaijan |
| Region | East Zangezur |
| Established | 8 August 1930 |
| Capital | Kalbajar |
| Settlements[1] | 147 |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Azer Gojayev[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,050 km2 (1,180 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 94,100 |
| • Density | 30.9/km2 (79.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+4 (AZT) |
| Postal code | 3200 |
| Website | kelbecer-ih |
Kalbajar District (Azerbaijani:Kəlbəcər rayonu) is one of the 67districts ofAzerbaijan.[4] It is located in the west of the country and belongs to theEast Zangezur Economic Region.[5] The district borders the districts ofLachin,Khojaly,Agdam,Tartar,Goranboy,Goygol andDashkasan districts of Azerbaijan, as well as theGegharkunik andVayots Dzor provinces ofArmenia. Its capital and largest city isKalbajar. As of 2020, the district had a nominal population of 94,100.[3]
InTurkicKalbajar means"Castle on the mouth of the river".[6] The city of Kalbajar was renamed toKarvachar (Armenian:Քարվաճառ) after its occupation in theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh war, which corresponds to the ancient district of Vaykunik, one of 12 cantons ofArtsakh.[7][clarification needed] Kalbacar was registered as "Kəlavəçər"[8] or "Kellaveçer",[9] was one of villages of Zar nahiye of Nakhchivan kaza in Nakhchivan sanjak of Revan Eyalet in 1590 during first Ottoman rule. It was also known asUpper-Khachen orTsar (after its chief town) and was ruled by one of the branches of the House ofKhachen, who held it until the Russian conquest of theKarabakh region in the early 19th century.[7] In 1992, Azerbaijan abolished theMardakert District of theNagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, and its western part was included in the Kalbajar district.[10]
As a result of theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War, the area was occupied by Armenian forces on April 3, 1993. The district was declared a part of theself-proclaimedRepublic of Artsakh, although it continued to be recognized by theUnited Nations as a territory of theRepublic of Azerbaijan.[11] TheAzerbaijani population of Kalbajar were displaced and lived asinternally displaced persons in other regions of Azerbaijan. The district was made into theShahumyan Province, one of the eight regions of NKR. The region remained the least populated of the NKR regions with a total population of 2,800. The town of Kalbajar was home to 500 Armenian residents.[citation needed]
Under the terms of theagreement that ended the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, most of the district (i.e. Kelbajar district within its Soviet time borders) returned to Azerbaijani control. The eastern part of the district, which was part ofMartakert Province, remained under the control of the Republic of Artsakh. Initially, the western part was to be returned to Azerbaijani control by 15 November 2020, but this deadline was subsequently extended to 25 November 2020.[12][13] In the early hours of November 25, Azerbaijani forces entered the region; it was the second region to be returned to Azerbaijan per the ceasefire agreement.[14]
The district has close to 750 Armenian cultural monuments, which include monasteries, churches, chapels, fortresses, khachkars and inscriptions.[7] The most well-known are the monasteries ofDadivank andGandzasar.[7]
In 2022, the small 4.4 MWhydroelectric power plant Kelbajar-1 started operationing.[15]
At the beginning of the 17th century, most of theArmenians of the region, roughly corresponding to the territory of the region, weredeported to Iran, andKurds began to settle in the region.[16]
According to the "Statistical Data on the Population of the Transcaucasian Territory, extracted from the family lists of 1886", on the territory of the Avrayan, Ayrum, Asrik, Koturli, Farakhkanli and Chirakhli rural communities of theJevanshir uezd of theElizavetpol Governorate, corresponding to the territory of the Kelbajar region (within its Soviet borders), overall, there were 6446 Kurds and 919 Tatars (later known asAzerbaijanis), all of theShiite religion.[4]
According to the 1926 census, Kurds made up 99.8%, and Turks (later known as Azerbaijanis) - only 0.5% of the population of the Kelbajar district of the Kurdistan uezd, while for the majority of the population the native language was Turkic (later known asAzerbaijani).[17]
In 1933, Turks (i.e. Azerbaijanis) accounted for 100% of the total population of the Bashlybel, Asrik, Kilsala, Otaklar, Kamyshli, Kylychli village councils, more than 99% of the Seidlar, Synykh-Kilisalinsky, Zarsky, Zulfugarli village councils, as well as more than 90% of the Kelbajar and Keshtak village councils. Also, Azerbaijanis made up 50.6% of the Chirakh village council, while 44.4% were Kurds. Only in the Aghjakent village council, Kurds made up the majority - 90.9%.[18]
According to the 1939 census, 89.5% of the region's population were Azerbaijanis.[19]
As of 1979, the region had a population of 40,516:[20]
In 1980, the population excluding Nagorno Karabakh was 40,300, counting 124 settlements.[21] 8 of these settlements wereKurdish.
The population grew to 43,713 by 1989.[22]
As of 1999, the population in the Kalbajar District including part of the now-abolished Mardakert District was 66,211, however the census counts were not carried out in Armenian-occupied parts of Kalbajar:[20]
Starting in the early 2000s, the district was slowly repopulated by Armenian settlers from easternShahumyan andGulustan area.[23]
According to the 2005 census carried out by the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, 2,560Armenians were living in the western part of theShahumyan Province, which roughly corresponded to the Soviet Kalbajar District.[24] The number grew to 2,800 by 2006.[25]
By 2015, the number ofArmenians who had settled in the district had grown to 3,090 according to the statistics provided by Artsakh.[26]
However, the international observers provided different figures. AnOSCE Fact-Finding Mission visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in 2005 to inspect settlement activity in the area and report its findings to the Co-Chairs of theOSCE Minsk Group. According to FFM figures, at that time the number of Armenian settlers in Kalbajar District was approximately 1,500.[27] The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, who conducted a Field Assessment Mission to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in October 2010 reported that there had been no significant growth in the population since 2005.[28]
Though remote, Tsar nevertheless suffered from the deportations of Shah 'Abbas in the early seventeenth century and was almost denuded of its Armenian inhabitants. Eventually, Kurds settled the area, as they did in the district of Kashat'agh across the Karabagh (Arts'akh) Mountains to the south.
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