The East Zangezur Economic Region () is one of the 14

economic regions An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. It borders

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

to the south and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

to the west, as well as the economic regions of

Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...

, and Ganja-Dashkasan. The region consists of the districts of

Kalbajar Kalbajar ( ; ) is a city and the capital of the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan. Located in the Tartar Valley, it is away from the country's capital city Baku. Before the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the city had a population of 7,246 people. I ...

Lachin Lachin (, , ; ) is a town in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Lachin District. It was located within the strategic Lachin corridor, which used to link the Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia. The town was under control of Armen ...

Qubadli Qubadli (, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Qubadli District. It is situated along the Vorotan (Bargushad) river. History Qubadli was part of the Zangezur uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate during the Russian E ...

Zangilan Zangilan (, ; ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Zangilan District. It is situated along the Voghji (Okhchuchay) river. Etymology According to the Armenian historian Hovhannes Gharagyozian, the town's historical ...

, and

Jabrayil Jabrayil (, ) is a ghost city in Azerbaijan, nominally the administrative capital of Azerbaijan's Jabrayil District. A town with Azerbaijani majority and Armenians, Armenian plurality at various times during the Russian Empire, Russian imperial ...

. It has an area of . Its population (the refugees and IDPs living outside the economic region in Azerbaijan) was estimated to be at 343.5 thousand people in January 2021.

History

East Zangezur Economic Region was established on 7 July 2021 as part of a reform of the economic region system of Azerbaijan. Its territory mostly corresponded to the Kalbajar-Lachin Economic Region before 2021, which included the districts of all of its current districts, except Jabrayil. According to researcher Laurence Broers, the region's new name, East Zangezur, is motivated by Azerbaijani irredentism; it borders Armenia's Syunik province, implying that there is a "Western

Zangezur Zangezur () is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar Iran according to the Treaty of Gulistan ...

"—that is, Syunik itself. A few days after the Eastern Zangezur Economic region was created, Azerbaijani president

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

announced in a speech: "Western Zangezur is our ancestral land … we must return there, and we will return."

References

{{Economic Regions of Azerbaijan Economic regions of Azerbaijan